


White to Black

by TheMOUSE1976_Ottawa



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-10
Updated: 2021-02-09
Packaged: 2021-03-06 19:41:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 87,867
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26394328
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheMOUSE1976_Ottawa/pseuds/TheMOUSE1976_Ottawa
Summary: Marinette remembered her jaunt in the other timeline, remembered seeing Chat Noir as Chat Blanc. So when she awoke to find him watching over her, having saved her civilian self from an attack, to say she was confused was an understatement. But this isn't the same Chat Blanc. He isn't an akumatized Chat Noir since Plagg is also present. This is another boy she knows, a special project and attempt by Hawk Moth with a new kind of akuma. And he is fighting it.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Alya Césaire/Nino Lahiffe, Plagg/Tikki (Miraculous Ladybug)
Comments: 34
Kudos: 121





	1. Chapter 1

Marinette’s head pounded painfully, as if she were the victim of a severe migraine. She lay there for what felt like an eternity, waiting for her senses to right themselves and for the pain to ease slightly. 

At least she hoped it would ease.

The pillow and mattress beneath her smelled musty, definitely not like her bed.

A moment of panic gripped her, eyes going wide in fear. They snapped shut again with a pained groan, the dim light too bright. But it confirmed her fears had been unjustified.

She had remembered then what lead to her current state.

She had been walking home from a late delivery, finding the city’s subways running too late for her to wait and take to be home at a reasonable hour. In hindsight she should have maybe hailed a cab or tried to catch a bus. Then she wouldn’t have had that unpleasant encounter with those two men.

They had maybe a decade or so on her, and were obviously drunk. They had catcalled her as she passed, falling into step behind her as they continued their disgusting taunts.

Not getting the response from her they had hoped for, they had pounced, grabbing her and dragging her into a nearby alleyway. Her screech of terror and calls for help went unanswered except by the laughs of the duo.

Their intent was clear then.

One threw her against a wall, and she remembered the flash of light behind her eyes from the pain, causing her to drop unceremoniously to the ground. Her last thought as things had gone black was at least she wouldn’t be conscious for what would come next.

But what had occurred?

How did she get here… wherever here was?

Carefully she cracked open an eye to take in her immediate surroundings.

It was dark from the night, but she could clearly see she was in some sort of old warehouse. Wherever she was it was probably in the industrial sector of the city. It had enough old and derelict buildings like this one that anyone could just set up shop inside and no one would even care.

Closing her eyes again, she brought her hand to her throbbing head, rolling off her side to her back.

The sound of low purring reached her ears as a wet cloth carefully wiped at her forehead.

Marinette only knew of one person in all of Paris who could most likely purr.

“Chat…” and she opened her eyes only to feel her breath lock in her throat. “Blanc?”

Magenta feline eyes dropped from inspecting her injury to meet her eyes, only a moment, before returning to the task at hand.

Marinette held very still as he worked, not knowing what might set him off. She remembered the last time Chat Noir had been akumatized into Chat Blanc. He had been cruel and calculating, uncaring about people around him. And so very, very lost.

Nothing like this.

He was taking his time, making sure whatever wound she had on her forehead was properly cleaned and tended to.

Chat Blanc looked different this time around as well. The first time all his black leathers had turned bright white and his green eyes had gone a vivid and icy blue. This time he seemed more… feral. His now white leathers actually had fur patches on them, his belt tail now seemingly a real tail lashing back and forth. 

And were those fangs she spied peeking passed his lips?

Was he really akumatized?

What had happened this time to cause it?

“Chat…?” she called gently in question.

He responded in a kind of half snort, half feline growl.

“Chat, what happened?” she pressed carefully, a hand lightly touching his.

His eyes narrowed as he recoiled from the contact as if burned, a harsh hiss escaping his clenched teeth, ears flattening to his head. Marinette shrunk on herself in response, afraid of any kind of retaliation. But he merely growled low at her, a kind of warning. She held her hands up slightly in surrender, accepting the unspoken terms.

Do not touch him without permission.

With a near quiet snort he resumed his task of cleaning the injury on her forehead. From over his shoulder she spied quick movement, drawing Marinette’s attention from the white feline. Focusing her gaze in that direction she met a set of bright green feline eyes watching in concern.

“Plagg?” she whispered.

Chat Blanc whirled in the direction she was looking in, growling in menace.

The little black kwami sniffed derisively at his attempt to intimidate. “Try it, kid, and I’ll turn you into a pile of ash,” he warned.

It seemed to be enough to cause the boy to back off slightly. Plagg floated towards Marinette, hovering near her shoulder.

“You okay, Marinette?” he questioned.

“I’m okay… but, how are you here? Shouldn’t Chat Noir have been transformed to become Chat Blanc?”

“I’m not sure, but I think he was thinking of transforming to blow off some steam when Hawk Moth got to him.”

“Blow off some steam?”

Plagg sighed heavily. “His Dad is a real piece of work. He already has a million and one restrictions on him, but dear ol’ Dad figured out a whole new set to impose on him. There was no negotiation, just, wham!”

Chat Blanc growled low, almost angrily agreeing with what the kwami was explaining.

“Well, you should have let me—”

Chat Blanc gnashed a short growl at the kwami.

“Yeah, you remember that when all this is over.” Plagg turned his attention back to Marinette. “I didn’t get to him in time after his last meeting with Daddy Dearest and he transformed into this.”

“But the akuma should have transformed him into something close to what he was feeling at the time,” the girl reasoned.

“The kid was near feral with rage, so this actually fits. But the akuma was different this time, not black like they usually are, but really white. You know, like too bright to be just white. Not sure Hawk Butt has any kind of control on him though. He hasn’t tried to cause any mayhem or anything, just prowling the rooftops. Kind of boring really.” He floated closer to the girl and regarded the swelling abrasion on her brow. “You sure hit that wall hard. Wouldn’t be surprised if you have a concussion right now.”

Marinette smirked. “Mama used to say I’m too hard-headed to hurt my head on anything. Tikki…?”

“Still in your purse. Not sure if it’s safe for her to come out with our boy the way he is.”

“Agreed. Hawk Moth might gain control of him and then he’d know…” She paused then, thinking back to the reason she was injured. “Plagg, those men who followed me back from Alya’s, what happened?”

Plagg looked to the white feline with a slight hesitation. “I… I don’t know how he managed, but he has access to Cataclysm.”

The girl froze, eyes darting back and forth between the kwami and the teen in growing horror and realization. She felt the bile rising in her throat, threatening, the thought of what he did nauseating to even begin to imagine. She swallowed hard against the urge to retch.

“He… he… oh, god!”

“I’m sorry, toots, I couldn’t stop him.”

There was a quiet whimper from Marinette’s purse, Tikki keening softly in despair.

Sensing the change from her, Chat Blanc dropped his eyes from his task to meet her frightened gaze. The hard amethyst of his eyes seemed to soften, if only for the briefest moment. It let her know her Chat Noir was still in there somewhere, hidden under the layers of this feral seeming being.

“… afffrrraid…” he rumbled, speaking seeming to take great effort from the boy.

She swallowed hard. “You… you Cataclysmed those men…”

He growled low, more at the thought of the men from earlier that evening. He had followed Marinette from the rooftops, some deep part of him screaming that he knew her and needed to protect her. So he had prepared to act when the men had fallen into step behind her. They had attacked her, their intent clear from the smell of musk laying heavy under the rancid stench of alcohol. Marinette had not had the time to crumple to the ground before he had dispatched the louts.

His kwami had yelled at him for the act, but he ignored him as he had cradled the unconscious girl in his arms, already leaping back to the rooftops to take her someplace safe.

“… hurrrt… Marrri…” he rumbled again to her statement. “…prrrotect… Prrrincessss…”

Marinette blinked.

He had called her _Princess_. This was Chat Noir’s pet name for her.

So he was truly still in there.

Carefully she rolled to her side to push herself up on an elbow, facing Chat Blanc. Her head pounded painfully, forcing a groan from her lips as her free hand went to cradle her head.

The akumatized boy rumbled low, a hand hovering near the one on her head, but not daring to touch her.

“I’ll be okay, Chat,” she told him softly. “I just need to go home and rest.”

A harsh growl cancelled that idea. “… rrressst herrre…”

She frowned at him. “No, I’m going home. I can’t stay here.”

“… ssstay…”

“I need to go home.”

He matched her frown. “… prrrotect herrre…!” he insisted.

“I _need_ to go home.”

“… ssstay…!”

Marinette exhaled heavily. “God, you’re just as stubborn akumatized as when you’re just my Chat! Fine! I’ll stay.”

He sniffed a smirk almost proudly at having won this argument.

“Dumb cat,” she accused lightly, unable to hide her grin.

Truth be told, she couldn’t be mad or scared of him, no matter how much she justified that it was perfectly fine to be so. Everything he had done so far was to protect her. As much as it turned her stomach that he had used Cataclysm on civilians, he had saved her from their attack. At this time she would have probably been drawing her last breaths in that alleyway, beaten and raped.

A shudder gripped her at that thought.

Chat Blanc saw the tremor, pausing to stretch his senses to feel the area just past their little corner. His rational mind had been amazed at what he was capable of in this near feral state. His hearing was sharper, his sense of smell more acute, and he had developed a sort of sixth sense that he willingly followed blindly.

These new abilities allowed him to feel the colder than cool temperature within the warehouse he had chosen as his lair. He could withstand these temperatures easily, but she certainly couldn’t.

He pointed a sharp claw directly at her nose, making sure he had her undivided attention. “… ssstay…” he ordered.

And before she could blink, he dashed off.

“Where’s he going?” Tikki questioned, finally emerging from Marinette’s purse.

“It’s cold in here,” Plagg supplied. “If he wants her to stay here for however long he’s akumatized, he knows he needs to get her something to stay warm.”

The red kwami’s shoulders sagged slightly. “He’s going to steal blankets, isn’t he?”

The black god shrugged. “Maybe from his own room, maybe from somewhere else. It’s hard to predict him when he’s like this.” He sighed heavily. “Maybe I should have gone with him.”

Marinette stared off in the direction Chat Blanc had gone. “Hopefully neither he nor anyone else gets hurt in the process.”

* * *

It was almost midnight and neither Tom Dupain nor Sabine Dupain-Cheng had heard the apartment door open, signalling that their Daughter was home. 

This worried them.

She had not called or texted to say she would be late.

The parents lay awake in bed, staring at the ceiling, straining their ears to catch any little noise that would let them know she was back. Tom twiddled his thumbs nervously, trying to pre-occupy himself.

They were good parents afterall. They had taught their Daughter how to take care of herself on the streets of Paris if ever she was caught out at this hour. She trusted them enough to call them if she got over her head. And she trusted them not to call every few minutes to demand where she was.

But they were her parents and parents who cared about their children worried.

A muted thud was heard from above them, in Marinette’s room.

“Did she come home already?” Sabine asked.

“I didn’t hear the front door,” her husband replied, already climbing out of bed and moving towards their bedroom door.

Cracking it open just a bit, he peered out into the dark apartment. He caught a flash of white from the stairs to the loft shortly before he heard the fridge open, its dim light illuminating part of the space beyond.

The light went out and the white form moved towards the main door, heading to the bakery.

Tom recognized the shape of the intruder, a hand curling over the handle of an oversized rolling pin he kept close in case of home invasions.

“Tom, what is it?”

“It’s Chat Noir, but he seems to be akumatized. He’s all white and he seems to be raiding our place. He just went to the bakery.”

Carefully he moved out of the room towards the main door, feeling Sabine staying close behind him. There was no use telling her to stay behind. He knew full well she was more than capable of defending herself against any akuma with the kind of training she had received in her youth.

They could hear random rummaging noises coming from the bakery, recognizing the sounds of baskets and flour sacs being knocked over.

Tom’s free hand closed over the door handle and he paused, taking a bracing breath.

He burst through the door with a dramatic shout, swinging the rolling pin at the intruder.

Only to have it land with a smack in the palm of Chat Blanc who never flinched under the weight and strength of the large baker.

Tom blinked at the sight.

The telltale magenta eyes of an akuma victim were there, but this was not the same Chat Blanc that had terrorized the city for a few hours some time ago. He didn’t seem to want to attack, purple eyes flicking back and forth between the two. At his feet was a pink comforter and a number of baked goods.

And no matter how much strength Tom put into getting his weapon back, Chat Blanc held firm as if the much larger man possessed no strength.

“What… what are you doing here?” Sabine demanded, moving to place the counter between herself and the scene before her, just in case he tried something.

He spared them both a long glance. “… fffood… blanketsss…” the feline rumbled.

“Why?”

“… Marrri…”

Tom released the rolling pin, letting Chat Blanc hold its full weight with ease. “Marinette? She hasn’t come home yet. Do you know where she is?”

“… sssafffe… cold…”

“You should bring her back here then,” Sabine urged.

The cat shook his head at them, flattening a clawed hand to his own chest. “… prrrotect…”

“We can do that here,” Tom countered.

A menacing feline growl escaped Chat Blanc throat, eyes narrowing at the imposing man, showing him no sign of fear. “… prrrotect…!” he repeated.

The baker frowned, feeling his defensive Father-nature rise to the forefront to protect his Daughter and family. “Are you trying to say that I can’t protect my own child?”

Chat Blanc lunged forward enough to get in the man’s face, hissing viciously, eyes narrow and ears flattened back. Tom wisely backed away, more in surprise than fear, hands held up in surrender. 

Off to the side, Sabine lightly tapped the countertop in silent thought. She knocked on it once, coming to a decision and to capture the two men’s attention.

“Right, Tom, go grab that baguette basket in the back, please,” she ordered as she took the comforter Chat Blanc had dropped on the floor and began folding it, not missing the fact this was the comforter off of Marinette’s bed. A few food items grabbed from the kitchen tumbled out.

Momentarily conflicted, casting a quick glance between his wife and the akuma victim, Tom backed away into the kitchen to get the basket. Sabine placed the folded item in the bottom once he placed it on the floor, retrieving the other food stuffs that had fallen out to stack them inside.

“Go get a couple of demi baguettes and that wedge of cheese we had at dinner,” she instructed.

“You sure you’ll be okay alone with him?”

“Tom, if he had wanted to hurt us, he would’ve done it by now.”

“He has Marinette.”

“And you heard him, he’s protecting her. He held on to that rolling pin without so much as a twitch, even with your weight and strength behind it. We‘re in no position to stop him. Ladybug will no doubt find them and de-akumatize him back into Chat Noir before long. Until then, there’s nothing else we can do except let him do this.”

He looked over at Chat Blanc watching them expectantly. “I guess feeding him isn’t going to hurt anything. And you can’t fight very well if you’re fighting a food coma too.”

“Exactly!” she smiled. “So we pack up the goodies we know Chat Noir likes, along with the demi baguettes and cheese for Marinette. Maybe some of that _saucisson sec_ too. And plenty of water bottles.”

Chat Blanc was confused as he watched them both race around the bakery with sudden smiles on their faces. If they were planning something against him, he had no idea what it was. Especially seeing as they seemed to be helping him by packing up that large wicker basket. Truth be told, carrying all of it back to his lair this was would be infinitely easier than his original plan… or lack thereof.

A crack of thunder made him turn his attention away to the large bakery windows. He had smelled the rain on the air all the way here, had felt the building static charge on the hairs on the back of his neck.

“Oh, dear…” Sabine had exclaimed softly at the sound of rain beginning to pelt against the glass.

Tom quickly retrieved a couple of garbage bags and tucked them in and around the basket’s contents, ensuring a waterproof covering for everything.

“There! That should keep everything dry until you get to… well… to where ever it is you’re going.”

Tom cautiously handed the basket to the white feline who hefted its weight as if it were nothing. A low rumble escaped his throat in thanks to the couple and he backed towards the door.

“Chat, wait!” Sabine called suddenly.

The desperate note in her voice cause him to pause and look at her.

“Keep our little girl safe? Please?”

He cocked his head to one side at their concerned expressions. “… Marrri… sssafffe…”

Tom and Sabine watched him duck out the door and, with a running leap, jump to the rooftops. There was a flash of lightening and he vanished from sight.

“You sure leaving Marinette with him is the right thing to do?” Tom questioned, his _Daddy Alarms_ blaring deep within him.

“If Chat Noir is anything, he’s a hero. Even akumatized he couldn’t bring himself to hurt anyone. This time he looks different, but I have to believe whoever the boy is behind the mask is still there. He has never and would never hurt Marinette.” She peered out into the rain hopefully. “I have to believe he’s still I there.”

Tom pulled her close to his side, an arm around her shoulders. “I hope you’re right.”

* * *

Marinette’s head had started to pound again.

She had decided to have a look around her surroundings, to try to figure out where Chat Blanc had brought her.

By all appearances, it was an abandoned warehouse of some sort. She couldn’t hear a lot of traffic from outside, but she heard what sounded like trains nearby. It didn’t help her situate herself, within Paris itself there were six large train yards, not to mention the countless more outside the city limits. She could easily be within the city circle or Pantin, Clichy, Levallois-Perret, Bagneux, Bercy, or even Ivry-sur-Seine. Or even further in Les Gondoles.

And that was when her head had started to ache, remembering those locations from a map she had studied when she had first become Ladybug. She had wanted to be prepared in case an akuma took them to areas away from the _arrondissements_.

But now remembering all those places was making her injury throb painfully, making her cradle her head in one hand.

“You okay, toots?” Plagg questioned gently.

“Yeah, guess I hit my head a little harder than I realized.”

Tikki flitted to the mattress to retrieve the handkerchief Chat Blanc had used to clean her Chosen’s wound. Carefully, the little red being pressed it to Marinette’s forehead, hoping to alleviate some of the pain. Marinette took it from her, holding the cool fabric to her skin, and smiled in gratitude.

“You should get that looked at the first chance you get,” Tikki advised. “Chat Blanc did a good job cleaning it, but I wouldn’t be at all surprised if you really did have a concussion.”

“Sure is starting to feel like it,” the girl groaned.

“Told you that bump was bad,” Plagg smirked, concern visible in his eyes.

“I’ll know to listen to you next time, Doctor Plagg,” she quipped.

She allowed herself a moment more of the damp cloth against her brow before pulling it away. Curiosity got the better of her and she looked at the cloth. It wasn’t a scrap of something as she had originally thought, something Chat Blanc had torn from somewhere to treat her wound.

It was a handkerchief.

An expensive one from the fine linen beneath her fingers.

Her thumb brushed over something raised in one corner, no doubt a monogram. Fine items such as these usually carried one. Flipping it over she two intricately stitched letters in green silk thread: A.A.

Marinette blinked, her mind starting to connect dots she never knew were there.

One would always disappear before the other would arrive.

Never were they ever in the same place at the same time.

Both had the corniest sense of humour and love of cheesy puns.

Same height.

Same build.

Same voice, now that she thought about it.

Only the eyes were different, if not the same color, but who knew what the Cat Miraculous changed in him.

Her eyes raised to Tikki and Plagg who were both regarding her and the cloth in what seemed to be growing unease.

“A. A,” she voiced to them.

Tikki worried at her bottom lip as Plagg unconsciously wrung his paws.

“This belongs to Adrien Agreste… right?” she pressed the kwami.

The kwami looked at each other, trying to figure out what to say.

“Chat Blanc… is really Adrien… right?” 

Marinette could feel the twinge of a panic attack coming on as realization began to dawn, the dots all lining up perfectly like little soldiers pointing out the numerous clues.

“Um…” Plagg began, hoping the words would magically come to him.

“And since you’re with him,” she pointed to the black cat, “Then that means… oh, my God…”

“Marinette, breathe,” Tikki instructed at the panic flitting across the girl’s face.

“Adrien Agreste is Chat Noir, ” the girl hushed. Her eyes screwed tight with a low groan. “All this time… I’ve been pushing him away… Him! And I never saw… Never made the connection…”

“In your defence, Marinette, you weren’t really looking to make the connection.”

“That doesn’t make me feel any better about all this,” she frowned at her kwami. Marinette closed her eyes again with a deep calming breath. “Sorry, Tikki.”

“It’s alright, Marinette. It’s not like Plagg and I haven’t gone through some form or another of the revelation… though, this is truly one of the more, um, interesting ones in a long while.”

“More interesting than Aleksandrya and Aristaeus?” Plagg smirked.

Tikki actually paused in consideration, thinking back at these ancient Chosen, and then shook her head. “Close second… maybe,” she returned his smirk.

“All this time…” the kwami heard Marinette breathe to herself, watching as she cradled her throbbing head in one hand. “Adrien was Chat all this time… was with me all this time…”

A scraping on concrete and a thud caused them all to jump, peering through the dark towards the sounds. Magenta eyes were glowing not too far away, taking in the three of them.

Three of them!

Marinette snatched Tikki out of the air, clutching her protectively to her chest just as Chat Blanc dashed up to them. A low feral growl rumbled in his throat, coming almost nose to nose with the girl, rainwater dripping from his soaked hair to seep through her capris. Feline eyes dipped to the kwami in her hands before returning to her face with a deep scrutiny. She could almost see the wheels turning behind his eyes, his primal akumatized mind trying to put pieces together.

She had to distract him.

“… A- Adrien…?”

He visibly flinched away as if struck.

Slowly she tucked a hand behind herself to safely release Tikki away from Chat Blanc, all the while keeping her gaze on the boy. She reached out to him, but did not touch him.

“It is you,” she continued.

He growled low, almost a half-hearted warning.

“Let me help you… please.”

For a brief moment, he met her gaze, and then he huffed at her before dashing off into the shadows.

“Chat!” she called out, afraid he was leaving again.

But he reappeared in front of her a heartbeat later, a large basket held on one arm. He wasn’t particularly gentle putting on the ground near her, but he was careful enough not to just drop it. Chat Blanc crouched down, keeping the basket between them, and pulled off the garbage bags covering the contents.

Marinette felt her stomach start to rumble as the scent of bread and pastries reached her nose. She recognized the shape of the items within, seeing her parents flourish in baking in each of the baked goods. Each were grouped by kind in their own individual little baskets or bags. Beneath it all she recognized the comforter from off of her bed.

“You went to my home?” she questioned.

He only sniffed in response.

“My parents, you didn’t…?” she asked with some trepidation.

Fear that melted away when he shook his head, rain spattering from his soaked hair. He hadn’t harmed them. Marinette peered into the basket, reaching in to start pulling items out in a kind of inventory. By the sheer amount and variety of things, she could almost see her Mother’s influence in the selection.

“Don’t suppose there’s any cheese in there?” Plagg questioned.

“Or cookies?” Tikki ventured from a safe place behind the girl’s shoulder.

Marinette felt herself smile. “You’d think Mama knew you guys existed or something.” She held up a cookie over her shoulder for her kwami to take before handing a hunk of cheese to the God of Destruction. “It’s not Camembert, I’m afraid.”

“Don’t worry about it, toots. As much as I adore my gooiness, it’s not the only thing I’ll eat.”

She smirked. “To hear Chat talk about you, you’d think it was.”

Chat Blanc moved closer on his hands and knees, peering into the basket with wide eyes, curious at its contents and the sweet scents wafting from it. For a moment, Marinette kept an eye on him as she unloaded the items. 

Part of her was screaming.

This Chat Blanc was Adrien.

But by the fact that the black cat kwami was here too, insisting on staying with the boy, that meant this was Chat Noir as well.

This was not how this reveal was supposed to happen, not how she had envisioned it.

Sure, she would have been lying to herself if she hadn’t even remotely imagined her partner being the man of her dreams. Ayla’s little photoshop from nearly a year back had planted that seed of doubt.

A thought she had pushed to the very back of her mind just imagining Adrien as a goofy and pun-loving secret superhero.

The more she looked at Chat Blanc - at the messy hair dulled from their golden blond to an ashen color from the effect of the akuma, at the feline pupils now rimmed in a purple sclera - the more she started to see the Agreste teen.

“Adrien…?”

He blinked up at her sharply, ears folding back against his head.

“Adrien…” she repeated with more confidence.

He growled low.

“Oh, stop,” she admonished, seeing him cringe. “Plagg pretty much confirmed it a few minutes ago. And why would you hurt me now after you pointedly told me you wanted to protect me.”

One of his ears twitched up.

“Your looks kind of makes sense, now that I think about it,” she continued. “You were akumatized as Chat Noir into Chat Blanc and you generally looked the same… not that you’d remember that timeline. As Adrien, you would probably still hold on to some of the traits.”

He sniffed.

Marinette leaned on the edge of the basket, regarding him so carefully, before carefully reaching over to him. Chat Blanc shrunk away from her hand and she froze, but did not pull her hand back. This was just like dealing with a real cat. She had to let him come to her, make him feel this was all under his terms. 

His ears were flat to his head again. Magenta eyes flicked from her eyes to her hand repeatedly, unsure.

“Careful, Marinette,” Tikki warned in her ear.

One of the white triangles flicked upright again, a kind of curiosity entering his eyes as he stared hard at the kwami hovering just behind her shoulder. It was as if his akumatized mind had finally caught up with everything he had seen to date.

“… My… Lady…?” he queried in a near purr.

She wanted to flinch.

Really not how she had imagined their reveal to go.

A small smile crept over her lips despite the worry that Hawk Moth might take control of him at any moment and learn her secret, and therefore force him to take her Miraculous. 

But the villain had left him pretty much alone in these last few hours, despite Adrien making no effort to draw out the city’s heroes. She had to believe Adrien was stronger than Hawk Moth’s control, much like last time.

“Hi, Kitty,” she near whispered.

He hesitated for the briefest second before inching towards her hand. Marinette held very still, fighting the tickling sensation as he sniffed at her fingers tentatively. As if recognizing her scent, Chat Blanc pushed his face into her hand in a very kittenish rub.

She smiled, threading her fingers through his wet hair, suppressing a squeak of surprise when he suddenly pressed his face into her belly, rubbing his face and head into the fabric of her shirt. He settled his arms around her hips to keep her close. Somehow through her shock Marinette managed to bring her hands back into his hair, gently scratching at his scalp.

A chainsaw would have made less noise than the purr that ripped from his throat.

She swallowed her giggle, allowing one of her hands to drift over his stiff shoulders.

“I _knew_ you could purr, Kitty,” she near whispered.

He harrumphed in attempted indignation, the sound nearly lost in the purr.

She continued to lavish attention to his hair and shoulders, hoping to work the tension she felt out of his muscles and get him to trust her more. Perhaps then he could see fit to let her go.

“Who would’ve thought the kid was such a cat,” Plagg sniffed, gazing down at his lazing Chosen.

Tikki tittered softly. “All of your kittens had feline traits. Part of the reason you paired so well with them.” The little goddess peered down at the contented boy before looking up to her own Chosen’s face, at the multitude of emotions flitting over her features. “Are you okay, Marinette?”

“I think… I think I’m having a quiet freak out now.”

Both kwami smirked knowingly, keeping quiet to let her continue.

“All this time… I never saw… There were signs, right? I mean, I couldn’t have been _that_ blind… right?”

Still, they remained quiet, letting her work out her anxieties.

“He… As Chat, he kissed my hand… He calls me Princess… Keeps… keeps visiting my balcony… But… But this is Adrien! He… he doesn’t… we’re just… friends…” 

Her expression dropped at that final thought.

They were just friends as civilians, he had stated it often enough. But he had also said as Chat Noir that he was in love with Ladybug, professing it to both her identities often enough.

Her mind began to reel.

Chat Noir loved Ladybug.

But Chat Noir was Adrien.

So, Adrien loved Ladybug.

But Marinette was Ladybug.

And Adrien considered Marinette just a friend.

And Chat Noir also considered her a friend.

Her head began to pound mercilessly once again, pulling a groan from her lips.

Immediately, Chat Blanc sprang up from her lap, ears pointed upwards in rapt attention. Marinette couldn’t even find it in herself to react so much her head hurt. She cradled her own head, willing thoughts to stop, even for a little bit to lessen the pain.

“… Purr-rr-rincessss…?” he purred in concern.

“I think… I think I need to lie down…”

He helped her ease back down to the mattress before he turned to the basket to start digging through its contents. Marinette closed her eyes to ease the throbbing. She felt one of his clawed hands carefully lift her head and slip a cushion beneath it. She settled against it with a small sigh, recognizing the scent as being from her room. Moments later he draped her comforter over her form, tucking in the edges around her with all care and attention possible.

As she started drifting off she became vaguely aware of Chat Blanc moving somewhere close by. Cracking an eye open she saw he had curled himself possessively around her pillow, above her head, settling his head on his arms to watch her. It was a protective posture.

Magenta eyes watched carefully as she reached over to thread through his bangs, pulling a purr from him as his eyes closed.

Tikki and Plagg landed on the mattress between them, keeping closer to Marinette than the akumatized boy.

“We’ll see in the morning if he’s more willing to let you help him,” Tikki ventured softly, curling around Plagg.

The cat yawned widely. “The good news is ol’ Hawk Butt can’t akumatize anyone while the kid is still evillized. So, until we find where the akuma is and purify it, the rest of the city is safe.”

Marinette allowed herself a small smile, closing her eyes. “Small victories.” 

She allowed herself to toy with a few soft locks of his hair, feeling herself drift away into sleep. Her mind was still working at reconciling the idea that Chat Blanc was also Chat Noir and was also Adrien Agreste, but lying down seemed to remove the larger part of the pain it caused her injured head. She would need to find a mirror or reflective surface in the morning to check out just how bad it really looked.

Her last thought before sleep took her was, despite everything, she felt so incredibly safe.


	2. Chapter 2

Miss Caline Bustier jumped ever so slightly as the door to her classroom burst open to allow Alya Césaire to rush in.

“Alya, the second bell has rung already.”

“Sorry, sorry, sorry,” the girl apologized profusely as she moved to her desk. “I was at the Dupain-Cheng’s bakery to pick up Marinette and got some of the weirdest news that took me a while to wrap my brain around.”

“Is something wrong?” the teacher pressed, quietly noting the rest of the class was now listening attentively.

“Um… well… we’re not entirely sure…”

“I’m sorry?”

“Well, Marinette was over at my place last night so we could work on our History project and it was late when she left. I couldn’t get her to text me back to see if she got home okay. Turns out… um… she was kidnapped.”

A collective gasp arose from the room.

“Oh dear!” Miss Bustier breathed in horror. “Who took her?”

“It was Chat Noir, but he Chat Blanc now... I guess.”

Whatever control Miss Bustier had on her class evaporated at that moment. And she understood their reaction. Akuma attacks were one thing, and after so long it was sad to say people were getting sort of used to them occurring. These attacks also targeted single individuals who had wronged the akuma victim in some way.

But Chat Noir being akumatized?

Completely unheard of.

And he had Marinette.

What had she done to merit this fate?

“How can you be sure its Chat Noir akumatized and that he has Marinette?” a voice questioned just above the din.

Miss Bustier had half expected the question to come from Chloé Bourgeois, so to say she was surprised the question came from Lila Rossi was an understatement. The Italian girl was usually more compassionate towards her classmates, always so interested in their lives, incredibly so.

The girl seemed to realize the attention had turned to her, and not necessarily in a positive way. “I mean, Marinette has been really stressed out the last few weeks. Maybe it all got to her and she just... ran away?"

“Marinette would never run away from her problems! And I got this from her parents and there is no way they would lie about this!” Alya near shouted, not believing the girl in front of her would even dare suggest something so preposterous about the baker’s girl. “Chat Blanc raided their place last night. He grabbed blankets and food, telling the Dupain-Cheng he was protecting Marinette.”

Kim frowned. “Protecting? From what?”

“They didn’t say, but Mister Dupain said Chat Blanc was very insistent in keep Mari with him to keep her safe.”

“Mister Dupain is huge; couldn’t he take on Chat Blanc?” Nathaniel asked.

“Missus Dupain-Cheng said he tried; came at him with one of those big rolling pins. Chat never even twitched or looked like holding him off wasn’t a problem. I mean, Chat is already pretty strong, but combine it with the power of an akuma…”

“Statistically speaking, his strength could be easily decupled with that combination,” Max supplied. “It makes him a formidable foe for Ladybug.”

“But Ladybug would never fight against her own partner,” Sabrina continued. “I mean, I kind of see why he did this, Ladybug would most likely hand over her Miraculous than fight Chat Noir. But how did Hawk Moth manage to akumatize a Hero of Paris?”

“They’re both still human, even if they are superheroes,” Nathaniel explained. “Hawk Moth got to each of us with something, I’m sure there’s something either Ladybug or Chat Noir want more than anything in the world.”

“That would explain why Hawk Butt re-akumatized Mister Raimier twenty-four, no, twenty-five times now,” Alya added. “The man loves his pigeons and they pretty much get dumped on daily. And he did re-akumatize Aurore. And Max? And Lila, what, three times now?”

“Only twice,” Lila corrected sweetly.

“No, pretty sure both Ladybug and Chat Noir confirmed it was three times.” She missed the blink of a scowl from the Italian girl. “It just goes to show you that people are not limited by who they are, or even a one-time deal.”

“Well, knowing Chat Noir like I do since I was Queen Bee for such a long time,” Chloé began confidently, “… he’s always had a soft spot for Dupain-Cheng. I often think if it wasn’t for Ladybug, he’d be with her in a heartbeat. Regardless of what caused him to be akumatized, I have to think maybe something happened last night after she left your place, Césaire, for him to become so protective of her.”

Ivan badly hid his wince at that. “Yeah, not to worry you or anything, Alya, but our area of town isn’t all that safe at night anymore.”

Mylène nodded in agreement. “Ivan has to walk me home at night after our dates. There’s usually a couple of guys out at night looking for trouble, most of the time drunk too.”

Alya began to blink quickly as a scenario built itself before her mind’s eye. “So, after he got akumatized because of… whatever, he started some sort of patrol and saw Mari leaving my place. Maybe a couple of those guys you mentioned started after her?”

“Chat Blanc saved her and now his akuma mission is to protect her,” Juleka supplied.

“Oh, it would almost be romantic if it wasn’t so tragic too,” Rose wailed dramatically.

“Where do you think cat boy took her, though?” Alix questioned. “The city is huge; he could be hiding her anywhere.”

Sabrina nodded, pulling up a map of the city on her phone. “There are lots of warehouse areas on the fringes he could use as a base. Or he took her to Hawk Moth to hide her in his lair. I mean, none of us remember if we went to his hideout after we were akumatized, and seeing how long Hawk Moth has been in operation without anyone finding his lair…”

Alya struck her fist into her palm decisively. “All the more reason to really start looking for him now. We either find Chat Blanc and force him to give Mari back or find Hawk Moth and…”

Nino blinked at her. “And what?”

“Well, maybe we get to put an end to his terrorizing the city.”

Lila made a vaguely dismissive gesture as she crossed her arms. “I think we really should just let Ladybug handle this. This is what she does, after all, so if anyone knows how to battle an akuma or track Chat Blanc, it would be her. We wouldn’t want to get in her way or anything.”

“I’m sure she wouldn’t mind the assistance of individuals who could keep a lower profile than she can,” Max countered. “We don’t need to be involved in any battles, but if we can find clues she could use and follow, we can become useful.”

Kim straightened at that, a hopeful expression on his face. “Max is right. We keep positive and Hawk Moth will never know what we’re doing to help Ladybug. Plus, we all know he can only akumatize one person at a time unless he gets that Catalyst chick first, which is safe to say he didn’t this time around. So, none of us risk being akumatized while Chat Blanc is up. And we can spread the word to all of Mari’s friends not in our class. They need to know what’s going on and I’m pretty sure they’ll want to help too.”

“I’ll send a text to Adrien to let him know,” Nino added, pulling out his phone. 

“Oh, I’m sure we don’t need to bother him. I mean, do you really think he’ll be interested in all this?” Lila tried to dismiss with a small lilt of a laugh in her voice.

Nino frowned. “Of course, he would! Mari is one of his closest friends and my boy is always concerned about his friends when they’re in trouble.”

“We should send word to Kagami and Luka too,” Juleka supplied. “They can get word out at their schools.”

“Good idea,” praised Alya. “We should see if we can get Jagged Stone, Clara Nightingale, and Nadja Chamack to spread the word on social media, get maximum coverage that way.”

“I’m sure they’re much too busy to be able to help properly,” Lila again tried to dismiss.

“Mari is their friend, and she babysits for Miss Chamack.” Alya stated. “I’m sure they can take a few minutes out of their schedules to help us out in this.” 

“Lila, you have Jagged Stone and Clara Nightingale’s contacts, don’t you?” Rose chirped.

“Of course, I do!” the girl was quick to confirm. “I’m Clara’s emergency contact and Jagged loves me for saving his kitten.”

The tiny blonde smiled brightly at that. “Right! So, you should get in contact with them and explain what we’re doing. They’d never say no to a friend.”

Lila felt a heavy weight settle uncomfortably in the pit of her stomach. “Right…”

Alya clapped her hands decisively. “Then it’s settled.” She turned to their teacher, suddenly realizing the woman was still in the room. “Sorry, I think we got carried away.”

“No, no need to apologize for this. I’ve just sent a message out to the faculty to have them help too,” Miss Bustier smiled gently. “Ladybug is on her own now that Chat Noir has been akumatized. She’ll need all of our help. The city owes her at least this.”

As everyone cheered in agreement, no one saw Lila scowl.

Marinette had been just enough of a hindrance to keep things from falling into place like perfectly aligned Dominos. 

And Adrien, as nice and complacent as he was, seemed to know when Lila was spinning one of her yarns. 

The two of them were just enough to keep her from taking complete control. 

In the last city her Mother had been stationed to, she had gained control of the school, and by extension the friends who didn’t attend that school, within the first week of her arrival. She could have killed someone intentionally and someone else would have willingly taken the blame.

But at this school, the idolization of Ladybug and Chat Noir, combined with doubt borne of a healthy respect for their peers’ character, that task was made much more difficult.

With Marinette gone, the class was now quite a bit easier to manipulate and use however she wanted. And Adrien would easily become hers without the constant interference of the class president. 

But he would need to be present or even available for her to weave her web. She vaguely heard Nino say the Agrestes’ assistant had responded to his query. Adrien would be away for the foreseeable future, as well as incommunicado, due to work commitments.

Well, now with both Marinette and, unfortunately, the Agreste teen gone, the class would be even more susceptible to Lila’s special brand of charm.

They were all so easy to turn. 

Just enough of a fanciful tale here and there and they were hooked to her perceived incredible life, never once questioning how she could do these things or know so many influential people. 

But with their insistence on helping Ladybug to find the girl, this threw a wrench in this fortuitous event. 

At least she didn’t have to worry about getting the star power of Jagged Stone or Clara Nightingale involved in the search. Everyone believed she had their contact information and would be sending them a request for help later that day. 

Much as she would have liked to have been on either of their phone lists, Lila was farthest from being there. 

A simple and quick lie would cover her from that dilemma. Something along the lines of they were just far too busy, or they couldn’t use their global social media platforms for something only involving the _15e arrondissement_. 

It might hurt the pair’s popularity a bit, but they would easily recover.

Nadja Chamack, on the other hand, would definitely spread the word as soon as Alya would contact her, and that could spread to the other celebrities if they watched the woman’s show or social media platforms. There was no viable way to convince that one not to help, seeing her existing relationship with Marinette. 

Lila could potentially plant misinformation here and there…

If there was one person Lila felt she needed to have to contact above anyone else, it was Hawk Moth.

With Chat Noir akumatized into Chat Blanc, she had little chance of attracting Hawk Moth’s attention and warn him of her class’s zeal. One thing she had learned from watching the super-villain and being his accomplice several times, was that he could not use multiple victims at once. The only way he had been able to do it last time was by creating a boosting akuma in Catalyst.

But he had akumatized only Chat Noir without creating his super-minion first.

Why he hadn’t re-created that victim was a mystery. It had allowed for such delicious mayhem and had played into a plan she had concocted to swoop in at the last minute and defeat Hawk Moth at the moment he would grab Ladybug and Chat Noir’s Miraculous.

She would have become a hero then, all the while discrediting whoever the vaunted Heroes of Paris were.

To find out who Ladybug was. 

To humiliate her publicly. 

To take everything away from her.

That would be even sweeter than destroying Dupain-Cheng.

For now, she would go along with her classmates. They were her only chance of finding Chat Blanc and getting word to Hawk Moth.

And he was her best chance to receive everything she wanted.

* * *

As her mind surfaced from a dreamless sleep, Marinette was vaguely aware of the sounds of birds chirping and pigeons cooing in the distance. It took a moment for her mind to catch up to where she was and what had happened in the last few hours.

Attacked by a couple of men.

Knocked out.

Rescued by Chat Blanc.

Chat Blanc was Adrien, who was also Chat Noir.

A low dull throb behind her eyes pulled her fully awake, but for now she kept her eyes closed as she mentally pieced her new world together.

The alarm she set on her phone hadn’t gone off so either her phone was broken, lost, or out of power. None of those situations were helpful.

Carefully she opened her eyes, feeling a slight sting at the back of them from the bright lights filtering in from somewhere. Immediately she noticed the absence of her white clad protector. She raised her head slowly, fighting the heaviness and slight pain from what she still hoped was not a concussion, blue eyes scanning the wide-open space.

Nothing.

“How are you feeling, Marinette?” a tiny voice questioned.

Tikki floated into view, watching her charge in concern.

Marinette offered her a smile. “I’m okay. Where did Chat… Adrien… go?”

“I’m not sure. He looked almost nervous before he took off. Plagg went with him to make sure he doesn’t do anything dangerous.”

“What time is it?”

“Maybe closer to ten. I’ve gotten rusty telling time by the Sun with the advent of clocks. And your phone is out of power.”

“Mm, I figured as much. Ten? Class is probably in full swing right now. Mama and Papa no doubt told the school I won’t be in and who has me.”

“Your friends are probably worried about you.”

“If Lila hasn’t told them a story to have them not worry.” She sat up and folded the comforter into a more manageable pile before reaching for the basket of food. “Have you eaten yet?”

“I had a cookie. I should be good for a while. Are you going to transform and go after Adrien?”

The girl reached for a croissant, tearing pieces from its softened crust to feed herself. “I wouldn’t know where to start looking for him right now. And how will he react if I don’t stay here? He made it perfectly clear last night that I shouldn’t leave. I want to avoid a feral Chat blow-up as much as possible seeing as I don’t know the extent of his powers in this form. I don’t want to risk an event like in that other timeline.”

“Do you think he would destroy Paris?”

“I don’t know, and I don’t want to find out.”

“Agreed. Eventually Hawk Moth will try to recover the akuma.”

“If he does, I’ll catch and purify it then, so he learns nothing from it.”

“Until then?”

“Until then…” She chewed thoughtfully for a moment. “We watch to see what was akumatized on him and continue to win Chat’s trust back, so he allows us to help him.” Her hands dropped to her lap with a sigh. “What would help is if I knew what happened yesterday with his Father. What did Mister Agreste threaten him with that got Adrien so upset to be akumatized?”

“It must have been something bad. Adrien is usually such a nice calm boy. Plagg told me that he has self-meditation sessions he does ever few days, ever since becoming Chat Noir. And he had all these games and sports where he can just vent.”

“But he never really has anyone to talk to when he’s home,” Marinette continued. “Activities and meditation are all great and good, but sometimes you just need to talk.”

“Why doesn’t he text Nino?”

“I asked Nino that same question. Turns out his Father has a tracking app of some sort on Adrien’s phone. He sees all the texts and hears all the calls he makes.”

“That… that’s rather excessively controlling.”

“I had the idea of giving him a phone to use his Father wouldn’t know about…”

“But you got scared?”

Her eyes dropped to the ground. “I couldn’t come up with a scenario of giving him the phone that wouldn’t come off as creepy in some way.” She shook the self-disappointment away. “But this is different. I will help him in this no matter what. No chickening out.”

A tall-tale scrape of boots on concrete caught her attention and Marinette looked up to see the white form of Chat Blanc trying to slink in the shadows. Narrow magenta eyes watched her as he near glided in the darkness, fixed on her as if a predator watching prey.

As if she couldn’t see him.

She smirked to herself.

_So that’s how you want to play, is it?_

Marinette turned her gaze away, stamping down her smirk, making as if she hadn’t seen her stalker. But Tikki saw the smile twinkling in her eyes and turned to the shadows, noting the feline creeping not too far away. She smiled, feeling the playful aura surrounding him, knowing he was aiming to play more than to scare.

The little kwami couldn’t hold in her giggle. “He is such a kitten.”

“That’s how I know my Chat is still in there somewhere.”

Chat Blanc abruptly dashed forward, turning at the last possible second to circle the girl before plunking down in a seated position before her, a smug smirk on his face. Marinette responded to the rush by casually flicking his nose. He yelped in surprise, and then scowled. She merely giggled in return.

“So, what has the big bad Chat Blanc been doing all morning?” she questioned lightly.

He huffed a growl, then shoved his face to her stomach as he attempted to get comfortable in a half sprawl across her lap. While amused at his antics, part of Marinette’s mind still screamed at her that this was akumatized Adrien and not just Chat Noir. A dull throb settled around her forehead as a minor freak-out tried to take hold.

She closed her eyes.

_Deep breath…_

_Count to ten…_

_Nothing has changed…_

_Calm…_

When she opened her eyes again, she saw Plagg floating into view, a wedge of the cheese from the night before slowly being munched on by the tiny being. His green eyes were fixed on his own charge, critical and a lot more patient than she imagined the kwami could be.

“He insisted on running the full circle of the inner city,” the God of Destruction groused.

“… purr-rr-rrowled…” Chat Blanc corrected, settling himself on his back so his head was cradled in the girl’s lap.

“Ran,” Plagg countered.

“… purr-rr-rrowled…!”

“You, kid, ran. For what? Pent up energy? You looked pretty antsy this morning, at dawn no less.”

The akumatized hero blinked for a few long moments, thinking hard about his reasons. “… fff-felt…” he struggled to find the right words.

Marinette peered down at him, noting the frown behind his mask. “What did you feel, Kitty?”

“… bad… mmm-man…”

“Hawk Moth?”

He nodded, eyes wide that she understood him.

“You can feel when he’s trying to contact you… right?” she continued.

Another vehement nod.

“So… you ran off so he wouldn’t see me here, so he wouldn’t know and try to use me against you?”

Again he nodded. “…prrrotect… Marrri… … My… Lady…”

She favoured him with a smile, gently scratching through his bangs. “Clever Kitty,” she praised.

Magenta eyes closed happily, hands raising up to his chest level to paw at the air as a purr rumbled in his throat.

“So Hawk Moth doesn’t have control of him,” Tikki marvelled as she peered down from Marinette’s shoulder. “How strange, but advantageous to us.”

“Must be the new akuma Hawk Butt was trying out,” reasoned Plagg. “Nooroo’s butterflies are naturally white to begin with. You know, pure, a blank slate.”

“The Butterfly Miraculous’s wielder is the one who influences the color of the akuma,” Tikki continued. “Hawk Moth uses dark emotions, so the butterflies become almost black from the energy.”

“Like red for rage or blue for depressed?” the girl asked to which Tikki nodded.

“But this one yesterday…” The tiny black cat hissed slightly. “I don’t know, it looked and felt weird. The feeling was negative, but there was something really off about it all, aside from the color. It was a brilliant white, almost blindingly so.”

Marinette ran her fingers through Chat Blanc’s hair, rubbing firm yet gentle circles against his scalp, keeping the boy in this completely relaxed state.

“A white akuma used to akumatize.” She pressed her lips into a thin line. “I really wish we could talk to Master Fu about all this. I mean, there must be some precedence to this, right? Wayzz or Hiss might have more information.”

“We would go to the other kwami ourselves…” Tikki began, sharing a look with Plagg.

“But we don’t feel right leaving you alone with the furball right now. Besides, I’m lousy with asking the right questions so I wouldn’t get enough out of them to help us.”

“And I need to stay with you in case you need to transform into Ladybug.”

“It’s alright,” Marinette smiled. “We’ll just have to find whatever the akuma landed on and break it to release him… Plagg, this has been bugging me since you mentioned it last night. Yesterday, before Adrien was akumatized, what did his Father say or do to make him a target for Hawk Moth?”

The little god growled viciously. “The only reason I don’t Cataclysm that sad excuse of a man’s ass into oblivion is because Adrien asked me not to. Daddy dearest decided that Adrien clearly had much too much free time on his hands lately. His schedule is all changed, he no longer has any free time, and his diet is now even more restrictive. So much so that I’m sneaking him my Camembert to keep his strength up and I keep changing the hiding spots of my stash in case they search his room trying to find any food stuffs that aren’t on his new approved list.”

“Seriously?”

“Absolutely. When all this is over, toots, start sneaking him some goods from your parents’ bakery. The boy will need it and I know he’ll really appreciate it. I certainly will.”

“Yeah, count on it. I already commented as Ladybug me to Chat Noir him that he was much too thin. I guess I now know why.”

“If that wasn’t all, that piece of work also decided that if he screwed up just once, didn’t matter to what extent, he’d be pulled out of school.” He sighed heavily. “The kid loves his friends and the freedom of school. That threat really didn’t go over well, especially after the stunt that Rossi girl pulled yesterday.”

Marinette blinked at that, hearing Chat Blanc’s purr change to a low growl as if agreeing with his kwami.

“What did Lila do this time?”

“Somehow, the little liar managed to weasel her way into daddy dearest’s good graces, more than before. He’s not letting anyone come to the house anymore on social calls unless it’s her, this despite the fact Adrien flat out told everyone in the house that she is not allowed in his room and that he doesn’t want to see her. Even Chloé’s been blacklisted. But I think you already knew that, what with her rant and raving about getting Mayor Daddy involved somehow in having that reversed. What you didn’t know is Rossi’s telling the old man that everyone at school has it in for Adrien and is just after his money and fame, you more that others.”

She frowned. “Well, I knew she had it in for me.”

“She almost has his Dad convinced you’re just friends with Adrien to further your designing career. She tried to discredit your work, some song and dance about the Derby really being from her and you not knowing how to bake, but at least even he recognizes your skill. Adrien feels isolated and hates that he’s being forced to hang around her on his rare free time.”

“But her latest stunt?”

“Spamming his Instagram as if it’s him, specifically targeting the media who follow him, and posting pic upon pic of her with comments about being his girlfriend. I think maybe she duplicated his phone, I’ve been reading up on it when the kid’s sleeping. Fascinating stuff, today’s technology. Anyway. one of the worst ones: she crawled into the kid’s bed and made it look like they had a hot and heavy session, complete with messed up hair and half off shirt.”

“She what!?” she shouted in shock, causing Chat Blanc to growl in displeasure.

“Nathalie is having a field day trying to kill this runaway scandal. Rossi is making it out as if it was all his idea and that he started it all. Thing is, we weren’t even in the house that day. Kid had a photoshoot off-site and was told to leave his phone behind since it was hush-hush.”

Chat Blanc whimpered where he lay, making a move to turn away from the shame of it all. 

He had a vague memory of all of it happening, of the vile brunette who reeked of far too much acrid perfume invading his space, but hearing it just made him feel horrible that he couldn’t stop the wave of guilt.

Marinette wrapped her arms around him when she felt him try to move away. He could feel the anger radiating from her, but he could feel he was not the target. Her arms held him in a fierce embrace, refusing to let him go.

“Oh, Adrien, I am so sorry,” she sniffed softly. “I knew she wanted to be with you, but I never thought she would go this far. I didn’t know...”

Chat Blanc felt something wet fall on his cheek. Craning his head up slightly he saw tears trickling down her cheeks. A low keen escaped his throat, ears flattening back, saddened that what he had gone through had made her cry.

“I’ll fix all this,” she whispered fiercely. “I promise, I’ll make all this right again.”

She met his eyes and saw the guilt swimming in them. 

“No,” she admonished gently. “No, none of this was your fault, my Kitty. Hawk Moth did this to you. Your Father did this to you. And Lila did this to you. I forbid you from taking any blame in this.”

He blinked, ears slowly unfolding. “… Marrri… prrrotect… Chat…?”

A sad smile appeared on her lips, one of her hands carding through his hair tenderly. “Just like Chat protect Mari… always.”

The awed look he gave her near gutted her. His eyes closed with a tiny contented smile, his loud purring beginning anew. 

“… Marrri… fffammmily…”

She brushed his bangs back to see his face, feeling touched at the trust that seemed to shine there, and pressed the gentlest kiss on the bridge of his nose. The leather-like material of his mask felt warm under her lips.

Once the akuma was gone he would forget he even had this conversation, that she knew any of his hardships, or that he was supposed to know she was Ladybug.

It didn’t matter.

Marinette would know.

And she would fight the rest of her life if she had to in order to make sure he would never be hurt this way again.

* * *

Gabriel Agreste collapsed heavily in his office chair before removing his glasses and pinching the bridge of his nose. He had been up since dawn, searching for his latest akuma victim, desperate for some progress with him.

He could feel someone else standing in the room, hear her quiet breath.

Nathalie Sanscoeur would stay silent until he spoke, it was her way.

Gabriel sighed heavily and looked up at the ceiling.

“I may have made a grand mistake in akumatizing him,” he admitted to the room.

“Have you not made contact, Sir?”

“No, I have managed to contact him… and was very rudely rebuffed for it. He learned this behaviour for his schoolmates, no doubt. He was never this headstrong and stubborn before going to that school.”

Nathalie blinked at his comment about being rebuffed.

“Have you… have you lost control of him, Sir?”

He paused, mulling over her question. “I may have, to a point. I had researched the Butterfly Miraculous extensively before putting it into use, forced Nooroo to tell me everything he knew and could do. This new type of white akuma was supposed to be more powerful, a greater challenge for Ladybug and Chat Noir. The victim would be completely bent to my will, my goals would be their goals and the reason for their akumatization would no longer be a distraction.”

“And yet…” she prompted.

He sighed again with a slow bob of his head. “And yet, Adrien is capable of defying my orders to tell me where he is or to return here. He is actively and quite successfully refusing all my attempts to take control of him.” He rubbed the back of his index to his upper lip in thought. “I also find it confusing the akumatized form he chose was that of Chat Noir… or rather some white feral version of him.”

“Adrien is very much fixated on Ladybug and Chat Noir, Sir. Perhaps wished that same power for himself for his plans when the akuma touched him.”

“Perhaps… I just wish I knew what it was he was planning. I can’t even get him to tell me that. His feelings of isolation and guilt were strong enough to attract my special akuma, but it never gave me the insight into what he planned to do with his newfound powers. And what I can see through his eyes is different views of Paris’s skyline. It’s as if he’s running in a long circle around the inner city.”

“Part of his plan may involve the Dupain-Cheng girl. I received a text from Nino Lahiffe to notify Adrien that Chat Blanc had raided the Dupain-Cheng home and bakery for food and supplied, claiming to be protecting the girl somewhere.”

A small smirk appeared on his lips. “Is he now? How interesting. This also explains Siñorina Rossi’s insistence that we keep Miss Marinette away from Adrien. Teen jealousy of his fondness for this girl. I always did like Miss Marinette. She shows a strength of character and a high degree of creativity I have rarely seen. And her sense of justice and morality are admirable.” He had a pause in thought. “When we finally resolve this matter, I want you to amend the list of approved individuals to this house. Remove Siñorina Rossi in favour of Miss Marinette.”

Nathalie smirked, seeing through her employer’s plan. “Siñorina Rossi will be most put out by that, Sir.”

“Yes, I expect she will be. How unfortunate for her.”

“And fortunate for you, Sir.”

“She and Miss Bourgeois are capable of such a steady stream of akuma victims, but for different reasons. Whereas Miss Bourgeois is fully convinced of her superiority and therefore need to crush people she deems beneath her in the most humiliating of manners, Siñorina Rossi’s approach is rather dangerous. Lies may bolster ones image, for a while, but they tend to crumble which leads her to resort to threats to silence her detractors. I thought keeping her close would enable me to use her just like she uses those around her, but she has proven herself far too dangerous to allow any kind of access to Adrien anymore.”

“And as for the restriction you placed on Adrien…”

“No, those were to have an immediate victim to test out the white akuma. A failed test. The white akuma is proving itself to be too difficult to use for the time being. I will need do more research and I will require more mental training if I ever attempt this again. Adrien’s restrictions can be lifted once this whole messy affair concludes. I can explain that I was hasty in my actions, too worried about the optics of it all and less so about him. Speaking of messy affairs, how is your progress with suppressing the latest lie Miss Rossi managed to feed the media.”

“Your legal team is doing a magnificent job reminding the tabloids that these are children and posting any story of a sexual nature involving them will be tantamount to disseminating child pornography. No media outlet wants to be publicly accused of pedophilia. This, after they refused to accept that this was the fabrication of an obsessed fan who managed to break and enter in order to live out a fantasy in Adrien’s empty bed while the household was away. I will credit the media’s tenacity on this story by asking about the phone. It was simple enough to explain to them that for some photoshoots, due to the secrecy surrounding certain exclusive lines of fashion, Adrien is not always permitted to bring his phone on location for fear an innocent picture may contain more details our competitors could use. I have instructed them to verify with the Louvre as to our location on the day of that incident should they doubt the veracity of our claims.”

“Very good. Then this unfortunate incident is concluded... for now. Much better to concentrate on getting my Son back.”

“To lure him here, we would need something of value to him, I would think.”

“Yes.” He put his glasses back on and slowly stood near one of the windows overlooking the Manor’s gardens. “Hire a team of private investigators, the best to be had.”

“Sir?”

“I want them to scourer the city for any sign of Chat Blanc. Make it seem as if we’re helping the police try to apprehend him. Have them follow him back if they can to wherever he has made his lair. Miss Marinette will be there. By any means necessary, they are to bring her here, alive. If he is protecting her as his classmate attested, he will follow her here to rescue her from mean old Hawk Moth.”

Nathalie had to smile at that.

Yes, that was most definitely the plan that would work.

“It may take them time to find his lair, Sir. And there is no guarantee he will remain in the same place for very long.”

He huffed a bare chuckle. “If anything, I am a patient man.”

“Yes, Sir.”


	3. Chapter 3

Standing with a group of her friends at the bottom of the school’s main staircase, Juleka Couffaine turned at the sound of someone calling her name. Just up the sidewalk she spotted the familiar mop of black hair with frosted green tips that was her older Brother’s, Luka. He was racing up to the group, looking anxious.

“I got here as soon as my last class let out,” he told his Sister once he was near enough. “Tsugari wanted to come too, but her Mother…”

“It’s okay, at least we have one more set of eyes to help look.”

“You said Marinette had been kidnapped?”

She nodded. “Chat was akumatized into Chat Blanc, and he took Marinette last night as she was leaving Alya’s.”

“He showed up at the bakery to grab food and other things,” added Rose, worry in her large blue eyes. “He told her parents that he was protecting her.”

Luka frowned slightly. “Protecting her? From what?”

“The area he took her from isn’t generally safe anymore at night,” Ivan supplied.

“And it could be anything,” Max continued. “An akumatized mind is not necessarily thinking rationally so what a normal person would perceive as benign, Chat Blanc might see as a threat to someone he instinctively recognizes as someone he knows, a friend. He may believe it is his duty to keep Marinette safe from all harm he imagines may befall her, thus becoming the driving force of his akumatization.”

Luka looked almost hopeful. “So, you mean she’s okay?”

“Relatively speaking considering she is with someone under the influence of an akuma, but yes.”

“So, does anyone have a plan on how we track them down? And when we do, what we do?”

“Well, when we find them, it’s rather simple,” Alix began. “We have to call in Ladybug to deal with him, but we can find a way to get Marinette away from him at least. Distract him and get her out and away.”

“Ladybug should be plenty distracting to Chat Blanc as it is,” added Kim. “Hawk Moth will order him to get her Miraculous.”

“So, we swoop in and get Marinette out. Okay, part of the plan down. Now, how do we find Ladybug?”

All eyes turned to Alya and Lila.

Alya already had her nose pressed to her phone, scrolling through endless miles of comments on the Ladyblog to find some clue, remark, or response that could have come from Ladybug. She knew how she spoke when writing, and she never used a created account, always opting for the anonymous feature.

A good idea to keep from being traced back to a civilian device by a rabid fan, or from having a tracer trojan file uploaded to her yo-yo and have same rabid fans track her around until she transformed.

 _Clever girl_ , Alya smirked.

But the blog’s comment section had nothing.

Just lots of fans promising to pass the word along to Ladybug if they saw her or keeping an eye out for Chat Blanc to find the missing girl.

“Ladybug hasn’t answered any post on the Ladyblog, and no one has seen her yet,” she told the group. “I have no other way of contacting her apart from the blog.”

So all eyes turned expectantly to Lila.

Lila, who’s mind was running at a billion rotations a second to try to find something remotely plausible to say to remove this kind of attention from her in this.

Lila, who hated Ladybug with a passion, but who had made the mistake when she first started school to make sure everyone knew how great friends they were. 

How was she to know heroes paid attention to their own lives?

Lila, who in no way was ever going to help any of them track down Ladybug or, for that matter, Marinette Dupain-Cheng.

The lie dripped with honey from her most reassuring tone.

“I haven’t had a chance to contact Ladybug yet, what with so many people around. I have to keep the number to her direct line super secret in case anyone saw. I’ll call her when I get home later. I mean, with all the chatter online about Chat Blanc and we told basically everyone we know online that he has Marinette, no doubt she already knows and is already on the case.”

Luka felt himself frown at this girl while everyone around her seemed to agree with her reasoning.

Her explanation felt too… plausible. 

But how could something be too plausible?

There was just something that didn’t feel right about her.

The music that surrounded her was too loud, a cacophony of discordance that made no sense. 

The notes didn’t ring true…

He blinked.

There it was!

Nothing of what she said rang true because nothing of what she said was true.

Music didn’t lie.

Ah, so this was the little fanciful web spinner his bandmates had gushed about. 

Rose had been smitten by the stories, the hopeless romantic that she was for amazing lives, and Juleka had gotten dragged into them due to her affection for the petite blonde. Ivan, the loveable lumbering giant that he was, was also pulled into this girl’s tales, just like his girlfriend, Mylène.

But Adrien hadn’t been sucked into the lies. 

The few times he had made it to their practices and one of the others started about another one of the girl’s stories, he had scoffed and tried to steer them to reason.

He had even pointed out the numerous time Marinette had pointed out the ludicrousness of some of those lies.

Without much success.

Obviously, this girl was good at weaving her yarns.

What was the name they used to call her?

The girl in question appeared suddenly in his line of few, a dangerously sweet smile on her lips as she stared up at him in what he could only guess was her attempt at being seductive and coy. The music surrounding her made the look fail miserably.

“Hi! I don’t think we’ve been properly introduced.” She held her hand out to him in the sort of way one expects to have it kissed. “I’m Lila Rossi. No doubt you’ve heard of me?”

He gave her a quick once over dispassionately. 

Oh, yeah, he’d heard of her. 

“Luka,” he replied simply, never reaching for her hand.

There was a quick flicker of something in her eyes when he didn’t react the way she was possibly hoping.

But the overly sweet smile remained, her hand pressing to her heart.

“Luka!” she exclaimed in recognition. “Right! You’re Juleka’s older Brother, the lead guitarist in that band, Kitty Section.” She took a step forward, invading his personal space, making the hairs on the back of his neck stand at attention. “I come from a long line of musicians myself, all the way to Beethoven himself.” He caught her eyes flicking down quickly before fixing on his eyes, fluttering her lashes in almost exaggeration. “And Jagged Stone is a close personal friend of mine. I bet he would love to hear you play sometime,” she near cooed, drawing her fingers up his chest in what she no doubt thought was an alluring move. “I could set up a meeting with him, the whole band or just you. He absolute adores me, ever since I saved his kitten off of the airport tarmac from being sucked into a jet engine.”

The resonance was so off to his ears he very nearly winced in pain. 

And he knew for a fact that Beethoven never had any children, so being a direct descendant was impossible.

Therefore, her story about Jagged Stone was probably just as implausible. 

He didn’t remember any past article mentioning a cat, only numerous articles about the rocker being allergic to real fur of any kind.

He physically took a step back from her, a frown knitting his brows, and she blinked up at him in actual surprise.

“I’m here to help look for Marinette, not become your new boy toy,” he admonished her, keeping his tone even.

She looked genuinely surprised. “But… I…”

“Save your stories for someone who actually believes them, Rossi. I’m not interested.” He paused before walking away. “You might want to do a little more research into your tall tales. The inconsistencies are starting to show.”

He smirked as he walked away, having heard her squeak in slight panic.

By not telling her which lie was the thin one, she would be wracking her brains long into the night trying to figure out which lie she would have to beef up. Hopefully that would keep her from spinning any more yarns tonight.

He listened carefully to the rest of the group, noting how Alya was taking the lead role in coordinating the throngs of students ready to disperse throughout the city. She was good at that, taking charge of situations and giving out orders without sounding dictatorial. Marinette had once called her a force of nature, a hurricane. He could see why.

Her instructions were fairly simple and straightforward: Everyone was to head out into the areas where they lived and start canvassing people they came across; whatever information they garnered would be shared with everyone else via the school’s group chat room; they were to keep their eyes peeled for Chat Blanc and report back to the group via the same way; and, under no circumstances, were they to confront the akumatized hero.

Luka was pretty sure he could follow the first points, if not canvass more of the city due to his age. His Mother gave her kids much more freedom to be out and about at any time of day, so long as their homework was done, and they didn’t get into any kind of trouble.

But he didn’t know if he would be able to follow the last rule about not confronting Chat Blanc.

Chat Blanc had Marinette; Luka had to at least try something if he could.

The music he had felt from Marinette had been captivating, innocent and full of hope and wonder. 

Juleka had told him how Marinette always wanted to help those around her, how she had stood up to the class bully in order to get Juleka in their class photo. Even going so far as to convince the photographer to do an after hours shoot, just for their class. 

Rose had gushed about how kind and creative the girl was. 

Ivan had explained that Marinette was the reason he was with Mylène now, how she had encouraged him to write his girlfriend a song to express his feelings when he could hardly voice them. 

And Adrien constantly praised her when he spoke of Marinette, her skills and talent, the music in that boy changing to something more in tune to that of the baker’s girl.

That harmony often made Luka feel a pang of jealousy.

He knew Marinette had a crush on the teen model, but to hear their tunes match so closely when he wanted his own heartsong to intertwine with hers…

To be honest, it hurt.

But he would fight for her regardless, and if that meant going toe to toe with an akuma, so be it.

The group dispersed in all directions and Luka began walking across the square towards the Dupain-Cheng bakery. Maybe he could get some inspiration as to which way to go by starting at the last confirmed sighting of Chat Blanc.

A harshness of sound reached the musical ear within him.

He didn’t have to turn around to tell him who was following him.

Luka blocked out her _song_ and kept his eyes to the rooftops, ignoring Lila following a few steps too close behind him.

“If I was akumatized Chat Noir, where would I go?” he mumbled to himself, trying to put himself in the hero’s mental state.

“It really is hopeless, you know,” Lila answered. “We should leave all this searching to Ladybug.”

A harsh chord blasted through his mental block and he winced, unseen by the girl.

There was a clear dislike of the red clad heroine in that one tone.

“Paris is such a huge city with so many places to hide in,” she continued. “For all we know that stupid cat took her outside the city limits by now.”

She had a point. Who knew how fast Chat Noir could really move under the influence of an akuma? 

But what he knew of Chat Noir, was that he was very much feline in his manners and thinking. Cats never truly strayed far from their homes and rarely moved in a straight line, preferring to make use of roads and alleyways, or in this case rooftops, to make their slow treks from their starting point. They never backtracked, always moving forward until they completed a roundabout way back to their point of origin.

So, had he reached the outer limits of the city? Probably not.

Especially not with Marinette and a large basket of supplies to carry either.

“Marinette was always sweet on Chat Noir,” Lila spoke, unbidden. “Regardless of why he’s really doing this for, she probably likes the attention from him. You did know she was a little attention seeker, right? Everything she’s always done was to be the center of attention. She’s not particularly any good at anything she does, baking or designing. I’m the one who has to correct just about all of her mistakes. If it wasn’t for me the poor girl would be an utter mess.”

A deadly viper couldn’t have dripped more venom than Lila just had.

Luka kept his mounting anger and annoyance in check. Hitting a girl, even one as deplorable as this Rossi teen, was not something he permitted himself to do.

Mentally entertain on the other hand…

There was a certain satisfaction to it.

“All I’m saying,” Lila pressed, seeing as she hadn’t yet gotten a reaction out of him, “With so many people out looking for Chat Noir, he’s likely keeping his head down. The odds are of finding him, or finding Marinette, are very slim at best.”

A flash of white above them caused him to freeze.

Was that trick of the light?

“We got off on the wrong foot back there,” the girl against pressed. “I know a wonderful little café just on the next block.”

Luka saw a white mass seem to materialize just up ahead. “Shut up,” he muttered.

“We could head over right now, have some coffee, get to know each other properly...”

“I said, shut up!” he hissed, making her flinch. “Look!” and he pointed to a rooftop.

Chat Blanc was crouched on the weathered tin roof, something flat and square held clenched in his teeth. Magenta eyes scanned around him, but he didn’t take notice of the watching teens on the street below. With a final swivel of his head, the white clad akuma bounded off.

“C’mon, we have to follow him!” Luka instructed with all urgency, dashing off to keep Chat Blanc in his sights.

“But I can’t run in these heels!” Lila complained as she half trotted after him.

“Then lose them!” He was already gaining some distance from her.

“We have to tell Alya and the others we saw him!”

“You tell them! I am not losing sight of him! He’s the only way for sure to find Marinette!”

And with that he rounded a corner and disappeared from her sight.

Lila stopped her half-hearted jog with an angered growl.

From what she had gotten out of Juleka and Rose, this Luka boy was interested in Marinette. He had been a means to be rid of the girl, to stop her chances of being with Adrien.

But he hadn’t reacted in any way she had predicted.

Verbally attacking Marinette didn’t cause him to come to her defense.

Trying to flirt with him had no effect what-so-ever.

Not even vaunting her skills or the contacts she had got his attention.

There was no reading to be had of this boy.

With a huff, Lila decided to let him have his chance at saving Marinette. If anything, it might make her see him instead of being fixated on Adrien. Perhaps she would see this as both heroic of him, and romantic, charging into danger to save his lady fair.

She looked at her phone screen, at the messages beginning to trickle in to the chat room from her schoolmates.

Lila smiled slowly from a thought.

Chat Blanc and Luka were heading West, so…

Her thumbs flew quickly over her screen as she typed a message to the chat room.

_Luka and I spotted Chat Blanc. He’s heading East out of the inner city from the Eiffel Tower._

The chat room exploded in gratitude and praises.

Lila could almost feel the city lurch to the East as people raced to offer help.

She looked to the West, to where the Sun was beginning to set behind the turn of the century buildings surrounding her.

Win or fail, she would still get what she wanted.

With a win, Marinette would turn to Luka as her saviour and Adrien would become Lila’s.

With a fail, Marinette remained out of Lila’s hair that much longer, letting her ingratiate herself to the teen model in the guise of offering comfort.

A proud smirk danced over her lips and she carefully tucked her phone into her purse. With an arrogant flip of her hair, she turned and headed off towards the Agreste Manor. She needed to find out where Adrien’s latest modelling job was so she could conveniently show up there. He would be desperate for news on his friend. It would be so easy to drop a few hints, make herself the perfect shoulder to lean on in his despair.

Long before Marinette would be found, Lila would have Adrien wrapped around her little finger.

She began to skip happily at that thought.

* * *

Marinette heaved a heavy sigh in the silence.

She was bored.

Chat Blanc… Adrien… had left a few hours ago, indicating in his own akumatized feral way that Hawk Moth was trying to get control of him again. She had encouraged him to leave, Plagg holding tight to his shoulder to ensure he didn’t do anything stupid.

At the moment she had silently hoped Hawk Moth wasn’t strong enough to control her partner, that Adrien’s mind was too strong for him.

But after several hours, even she was starting to get worried.

And bored.

There was only so long a person could stay put, staring at the same interior of a dilapidated warehouse.

She had walked the inside perimeter of the building, testing doors, looking at too high windows and wondering if she could safely find a way to climb to them. There was one door, but it seemed blocked from the outside.

She had even entertained unsafe methods of getting out, though Tikki managed to talk her out of it. Not that Marinette could have anyway, any unsafe way of escape was still inaccessible.

And she would have transformed to escape, but then Chat Blanc would have come after her. That would either result in a battle between them, which Marinette wanted to avoid at all costs not knowing what this version of Chat Blanc was capable of, or he would go to the bakery and perhaps destroy the place if he didn’t find her there, unintentionally hurting her parents, or he could go completely feral at finding her gone and very literally tear the city apart looking for her.

So, she returned to her corner and sat there.

“He’ll be back,” Tikki assured for what seemed like the thousandth time.

Marinette sighed again.

A familiar white form dropped from the support beams near the roof, magenta eyes fixed on her as he bounded on all fours towards her. A thin rectangular shape was in his mouth.

“Gotta hand it to ol’ Fu, he really picked a winner with this Chosen,” Plagg praised, flying over towards Marinette to hover at her shoulder. “Hawk Butt tried for over four hours straight to get control over Adrien, but he fought him off like a champ.”

Chat Blanc hopped in a comical fashion all around her, an overly proud smile on his face despite the item in his mouth.

Marinette could help but giggle at the scene he made. “So where have you two been after all that?”

“Adrien wanted to make sure that was the only attack for now. And he was trying to get something for you without being seen by all the cops hovering around your place now.”

“Something for me?”

In a very cat-like sit, Chat Blanc settled right in front of her, dropping the item in question in her lap.

A small gasp of wonder escaped her lips in recognition.

Her sketchbook!

She drew all her best designs and private dreams in that book.

He even remembered to snatch her sketching pencil.

“You brought me my sketchbook!” she breathed in wonder.

Tikki smiled. “He probably knew you would want something to do while he kept you here. As Adrien, he saw you with this book often enough at school.”

Plagg snorted. “Ain’t that the truth. He’s always been curious to see what’s in it when you start scribbling away.”

Awed blue eyes met Chat Blanc’s curious feline eyes.

“Thank you,” she whispered.

His chest puffed out proudly, fangs gleaming from a toothy smile.

Marinette giggled at him, scratching him under the chin. The purr was almost instantaneous.

“Who’s a good kitty?” she cooed at him, continuing the gentle scratches. The purr increased in intensity. “You’re my good kitty! Yes, you are!”

He dropped boneless into her lap, the rumble in his throat as loud as a revving engine. While threading the fingers of one hand through his hair, she busied her other hand along his spine, marvelling at the thin velvet covering his suit under her firm caress. Some changes to his akumatized form had been blatant, while others needed this proximity to notice.

His claw tipped gloved hands pawed contentedly at the air, his closed eyed expression one of bliss.

“My poor Adrien,” she lamented softly, causing one of his eyes to crack open to her. “You’ve had a hard couple of days so far.”

He made a sound halfway between a huff and a mew, rubbing his cheek to her thigh.

“You two are sickeningly cute together,” Plagg griped.

“Be that as it may,” Tikki admonished her counterpart. “We still need to figure out what was akumatized. There has to be something on him Hawk Moth used.”

Marinette blinked at a thought. “It doesn’t have to be on him.”

Both kwami looked at her, waiting.

“Remember Dark Owl?” she continued. “It was Mister Damocles’ computer, but Dark Owl was all over the city.”

Plagg cocked his head. “You think it was something in his room?”

“Maybe.”

“It would have had to be in contact with him at the time,” reasoned Tikki.

The little black kwami furrowed his brows in deep thought. “Framed pictures, phone, books, DVDs, basketball, fencing foils, trophies… The kid’s got a lot of junk in his room.”

“So, we need to figure out if it’s on him or in his room still. I don’t think there’s much chance he would want to go back home any time soon, is there?”

“Not a chance, Sugar Cube. Right now, his Dad’s part of the reason he’s like this so anything even remotely associated with the man isn’t drawing up cozy feelings.”

“It’s not the ring?” Marinette questioned, already knowing the answer.

“I’d feel it if it was that, toots.”

The girl pursed her lips and examined the boy curled up in her lap. “Well, apart from being more furry, feline and white, the only difference to his suit is the lack of pockets. Still has ears, still has a tail, and still has the bell.”

“Now there’s a lack of practicality,” Plagg huffed. “I gave the kid pockets to make sure he could grab an akumatized object and bring it to Ladybug to purify if ever she couldn’t get to him right away, and Hawk Moth goes and removes them from the design. If anything, _that_ makes him evil.”

Marinette chuckled lightly before her expression dropped. “Well, I can’t really feel the akuma on him. So that leaves something in his room.”

“We can get to his room,” Tikki began carefully. “But we can’t touch the item, or we’d get corrupted too.”

The girl blew a puff of air at her bangs in frustration. “Catch twenty-two.” She rubbed her knuckles between his shoulder blades. “I’m going to have to somehow convince him that I need to go there, find the item, and purify it there.”

“You risk running into his Father.”

There was no hesitation. “For him, it’s a risk I’m willing to take.”

Chat Blanc’s relaxed ears suddenly stood straight up, and the boy raised his head anxiously to look around.

“What is it?” she asked him.

He faced one shadowed corner where Marinette knew the only door was. His ears flattened back as he got up on all fours, his stance both protective and intimidating. The furred patches along his back and shoulders puffed to make himself look bigger; his pupils tightened menacingly through narrowed eyes. A low feline growl rumbled in his throat. Claws curled dangerously on the ground.

Before Marinette could question his reaction again, she heard it.

A grating of old metal on metal and the scrape of concrete.

Someone was coming?

In less than a blink, Chat Blanc disappeared from view. Marinette knew he hadn’t run off in fear. He was planning an ambush on whoever this person was. And, with his current state of mind, his ambush would certainly be deadly. She would have to keep her eyes peeled.

She kept her breath quiet to better hear around her, both kwami having retreated to her purse for the time being.

Footfall moved in her general direction in the dimness of the building.

“Marinette?” a voice called carefully.

She blinked, recognizing the voice.

“Luka?”

Emerging from a shadow she final saw him, noting the quiet relief on his face as he smiled at her.

The Couffaine teen almost laughed in joy at finding Marinette safe. Even several meters away, he still noted the ugly bruise on her forehead, and his happiness faded somewhat.

She was hurt!

Who had dared to hurt her?

Had Chat Blanc attacked her?

“You’re hurt.”

“What?” she questioned as her hand instinctively rose to the bruise. “Oh… No, I’m okay…”

He saw her blue eyes dart to something over his shoulder, her expression melting to one of fear. Before Luka could even react, she leapt to her feet and dashed forward. The boy half expected for her to run into his arms. 

Where that thought came from, he wasn’t sure. 

So it was with some surprise that he felt her shove him aside with no small amount of strength.

Luka stumbled a few steps before managing to recover.

How could someone so small be so strong?

He whirled around to be confronted by a strange and more than a bit terrifying sight.

Chat Blanc was glowering at him in all feral feline rage, claws bared and trying to reach for him, fangs gleaming dangerously.

And pressed up against his chest, doing her best to hold him back, was Marinette.

Nearly drowned out by the catlike growls, Luka could barely hear her cooing softly to sooth the akuma, whispering reassurances and pleas not to attack. He could see Chat Blanc’s coiled muscles relaxing by tiny increments from the girl’s intervention.

Then Luka caught on something he heard Marinette whisper to the Akuma.

“He thinks he’s saving me from you, but I’m not going anywhere, Kitty. I’m staying with you.”

Luka took a cautious step towards them in protest. “Marinette…”

He never expected to see her fiery blue eyes glare at him. “Leave, Luka, now.”

He frowned at her, confused at her sudden refusal to leave. “I can’t leave you here.”

“You can and you will. I won’t leave him like this.”

“This is Ladybug’s job, not yours. Chat Noir…”

“This is not Chat Noir!”

Marinette blinked at herself, at her outburst. She hadn’t intended on telling anyone, she had been intent on dealing with all this quietly. Ladybug would have appeared when the time was right, the akumatized object would be destroyed, and the akuma would be purified. No one would have known it was really Adrien.

Luka stared at her, curious, waiting.

The girl heaved a silent breath. “It’s Adrien.”

“What?”

“This is not Chat Noir. It’s Adrien.”

“But… but how?”

“From what I’ve been able to get out of him, his Father is the cause. Mister Agreste put more restrictions on him and Adrien broke. He had no one with him to help talk him down before the akuma got to him.”

“Your bruise… he hurt you.”

“This?” she pointed to her injury. “He saved me from a lot worse. This was caused by two potential rapists that he… took care of. He never laid a hand on me.” She looked up at the still raging Chat Blanc, near adoration in her eyes. “He would never hurt me.”

“Marinette, this isn’t Adrien anymore,” he tried to reason, taking a step towards them.

Chat Blanc hissed, only restrained by the girl against his chest.

Luka quickly stepped back. “See? He’s dangerous.”

“Only to you because you’re trying to take me away. Just leave, Luka. Ladybug and I have a plan, but you need to go.”

“You’ve spoken to Ladybug?”

“Yes. She knows I’m here and even she thinks I’m safe with him.” She frowned at him from over her shoulder. “You’re putting the entire plan at risk by being here. Just leave, Luka. I’m safe.”

Chat Blanc’s whole demeanor seemed to change at that, gazing down fondly at the girl before he wrapped his arms around her, nose buried in her hair.

“… Marrri… sssafffe…” he rumbled low.

Couffaine’s shoulders began to droop before he seemed to come to a decision, standing tall and determined.

“Ladybug’s plan or not, I’m coming back with the cops and getting you away from him. I’ll be back for you.”

And then he turned and ran.

Tikki and Plagg floated up from her purse, watching the direction the boy had disappeared in.

“Noble as he might think he is, bringing in the troops is not going to help us any,” Plagg sniffed. “My kid is fully capable of wiping out the entire city if he feels cornered.”

“Then we can’t stay here,” Tikki reasoned. “If we stay, they’ll find him, and he will use Cataclysm on all of them… a lot like you did on Atlantis.”

“For the love of…! How many times do I have to apologize for that?”

She allowed herself a smirk. “I’ll let you know.” 

She flew over to where Chat Blanc was still nuzzling Marinette, seemingly oblivious to anything save her hands gently threading through his hair and toying with his ears to sooth him from his earlier rage. The small being could hear a faint purr from the boy. Tikki hesitated, biting her bottom lip, hating to have to interrupt this tender scene. He was calm now, but he also needed to know they were no longer safe if they were to stay.

“Adrien,” she called gently.

Magenta eyes blinked in a drowsy humour, raising to the red kwami.

“None of us can stay here anymore,” she advised. “It’s not safe here now.”

This got his attention, pulling Marinette tighter against himself.

“… prrrotect… Marrri…”

“Yeah, well, you can’t do it here, kid,” Plagg added, flying up next to Tikki. “That boy who just left, Luka, is planning to bring reinforcements to take her away and take you down.”

“They’re right, Adrien,” Marinette supplied, drawing his attention back on her. “They’ll try to hurt you to get me away. They don’t know you would never hurt me; they just think you’re another akuma victim being controlled by Hawk Moth. I can cure you of this. I can purify the akuma. But I know you need time. This has to be your choice to make it easiest on you.”

He looked away with a sniff, but her gentle hand to his cheek made him look back at her.

“My kitty is always planning, always thinking two to three steps ahead of everyone, even when it doesn’t look like he is. I know you have more than one hideout picked out.”

He only nodded.

“I told you, I’m staying with you. Take us there.”

* * *

Ayla idly tapped the end of her stylus against her tablet’s screen. She could barely keep her attention on Madame Bustier trying to teach the class. Every so often she was cast a glance to the empty seat next to her, worry returning to gnaw a little bit more at her insides.

At the same time, she had a conundrum to try to reconcile.

During their searching the previous night, Lila had sent a text to the group that she had seen Chat Blanc heading East and that Luka was after him.

But upon meeting Luka later that evening he had assured her had been following the akumatized hero to the West.

Luka had no reason to lie about this, Alya knowing how he felt about Marinette.

But Lila didn’t have a reason to lie either… did she?

Could she have just mistaken directions?

But the Sun had been setting so figuring out which way was East, and which was West was simple enough. Even Chloé knew how to figure out directions.

So, who had lied?

She thought back to the rest of the conversation with Luka.

He had found Marinette in an old hanger near the train station and she had looked well cared for from the basket of supplied he had seen near her. But he had also confirmed she had been injured, telling Alya about the bruise on her forehead.

Marinette had confirmed it had been caused by two men Chat Blanc had rescued her from.

Marinette had also confirmed she had spoken with Ladybug about some plan to remove the akuma from Chat Blanc and this was part of the reason she was staying with him, telling Luka to leave. She had kept Chat Blanc from attacking Luka through this conversation.

Alya and the search teams had sent the police to investigate the hanger later that evening. They had found the mattress in the middle of the building, but Marinette was gone and so was the basket of supplies Chat Blanc had taken from the Dupain-Cheng household. 

Their first opportunity was lost.

Luka had also said Chat Blanc was not the akumatized version of Chat Noir.

It was Adrien Agreste.

Alya looked down to his empty seat at the front of the class as she chewed the inside of her lip. That did explain his absence conveniently at the same time Chat Blanc appeared.

But there was the matter of the Agreste household telling everyone and anyone who asked that Adrien was actually away on a modelling job.

For anyone who didn’t know the boy well, that was a story that might hold up for a while. But, as his friends, his continued silence would only make them wonder and pose the deeper questions.

What had Gabriel Agreste done this time to push Adrien past the fine line he walked?

She hated the man before, but now she was relegating him to the same level as Hawk Moth.

And to cover all this up as if it were nothing, was he really so worried about appearances that Adrien’s akumatization had to be kept hidden?

The bell signalled the end of class and Alya blinked. She had wasted the entire class thinking about the recent developments.

“You’re going to get frown lines from thinking too hard,” Nino accused lightly, rising from his seat.

Alya sighed heavily. “I’m just having trouble putting things together, so they make sense.”

“Like?”

“Why Gabriel is lying to everyone about where Adrien is. Luka saying he went West when Lila texted everyone saying they were heading East mostly. I mean, Luka would never lie about anything related to Mari. But then neither would Lila… would she?”

Nino opened his mouth to answer when a voice cut him off.

“Who would what?” Lila appeared between them, an innocent smile on her face.

The reported blinked, suddenly uneasy. “Just… just wondering why Ladybug would ask Marinette to stay with Chat Blanc,” she lied, throwing a look at Nino to not say anything. “I’m trying to figure out why.”

She thought she saw a flash of something in the Italian’s eyes at the mention of Ladybug.

Lila giggled lightly as if trying to change the mood. “I’m sure Ladybug has a plan in place. We just have to trust she knows what she’s doing.”

“I guess,” Alya reluctantly agreed.

“I think Marinette likes all this attention she’s getting now anyway, and that’s why she agreed to stay with the akuma.”

“What?” both Nino and Alya questioned at once.

“I have noticed that she’s always looking to be the centre of attention with everything she does for everyone. I mean, if it was me, I would have tried calling my family, my friends, the police about where I was. She has her phone with her.”

Alya shook her head. “She told me her phone was five percent when she left my place that night. And she didn’t have her charger with her.”

Nino nodded, thinking it through. “Given how much time passed, her phone’s been long since dead now. She wouldn’t be able to call or text anyone even if she tried.”

“Well, I guess that’s a valid reason. Oh, I got in touch with Adrien last night! Poor boy was an absolute mess knowing one of his friends was kidnapped by an akumatized Chat Noir.”

Alya felt the bottom fall out of her stomach.

There was no way she spoke to Adrien since…

No one told her yet that he was…

She didn’t know…

That was a flat out lie!

“He really wanted to be able to help, but he’s stuck at his modelling job for god knows how long on the Mediterranean coast. I reassured him we were doing everything we could to help Marinette and get her away from that akumatized monster of a Chat Noir.”

Nino looked to his girlfriend for guidance, knowing the truth, but unsure if he should confront their classmate or remain silent.

“Ye-yeah,” Alya managed. “I can imagine how much of a wreck he must be. He really cares about Marinette a lot.”

Lila chuckled. “Not that much. He told me he thinks of her as just a friend, definitely not girlfriend material.”

Alya fought hard against her eyebrow wanting to arch skeptically. “He told you this last night?”

“It came up in our conversation, yes. We ended up talking for hours and hours after I told him about all the great photogenic places along the coast he should try to convince his photographer to use. He said when this whole messy affair is done he’d really like to make us public. You no doubt saw those pictures he sent to the media and Instagram a little while back. I told him he really shouldn’t have, but the boy is so far gone in love with me, well…” and she shrugged casually, still smiling.

The reporter’s grip on her phone tightened to the point she was sure she was going to crack its casing. She didn’t say anything about having already spoken with Nathalie about those pictures and how Adrien hadn’t even been in the house the day they were taken.

Another lie.

“Well, glad you got to talk to Adrien about this. Hey, Nino and I are going to be late to out next class, we gotta go. Bye!” and she grabbed her boyfriend’s arm, dragging him off quickly.

Then, when they were safely in their next class and seated at their desks, “She lied!” Nino hissed.

“I know!” she returned, visibly shaking from mounting fury. “I’m fighting every instinct right now telling me to rip her to shreds. God, Mari was right about her, she’ll lie to keep everyone orbiting her like some all-consuming black hole.”

Nino blinked. “Mari never said that.”

“I’m paraphrasing… and maybe exaggerating… a bit.” She growled in frustration. “If it wasn’t for the fact we know Adrien is Chat Blanc, we would’ve gobbled up her story just…” Her anger faded to dreaded realization in the blink of an eye. “Just like all the other lies she’s told us since arriving in Paris. Oh crap…”

Her boyfriend came to the same conclusion instantly. “We owe Mari the biggest apology for basically calling her a jealous flake.”

She groaned heavily, her whole posture slumping. “All those supposed testimonies, all those interviews after akuma attacks… I have so much fact checking to do… that I should have done to begin with. What is wrong with me? I believed her over my best friend. What kind of person does that make me?”

“I’ll assume you’re being rhetorical. But the whole class is right there with you.”

“Difference is we know now, and the rest of the class doesn’t yet.”

She laid her hands on her desk, staring at them for a moment. Lila had duped her with a few colorful tales, to the point that the more colorful ones were just as easily swallowed up with the exaggerations as if they were absolute fact.

An akuma couldn’t have done better.

Mentally she started ticking off everything she would need to verify.

The tales of knowing Spielberg, Astruc, Lucas, and Waititi.

Her story about Jagged Stone’s kitten almost being swallowed by a plane engine.

Her medical issues and injuries that prevented her from carrying even just a textbook.

Her numerous allergies that prevented Marinette from bringing free pastries to the class.

Being Clara Nightingale’s best friend and emergency contact.

The songs from musicians who were supposedly enamoured by her.

Being close personal friends with Ladybug.

Just how many were lies?

Were they all lies?

“One problem at a time,” she finally voiced as other students began taking their seats. “We need to focus on getting Mari back and helping Ladybug de-akumatize Adrien.”

“What about Lila?”

She pursed her lips. “For now, we do nothing. We need to publicly catch her in a lie, more than that fib about Adrien back there, but Mari is more of a priority. We keep our eyes peeled for more of her lies through this anyway, and maybe be the voice of reason to those she lied to after she leaves so she doesn’t try to shore it up somehow.”

“But confrontation comes later.”

“Oh, you better believe it.”

“Good, because I have beef with her about promising me all those one-on-ones with David Guetta and Waititi about the biz. So now that Adrien left the hanger, where do you think he took Mari?”

“That’s the million-dollar question, isn’t it? There are so many places in the city, so many abandoned locations or places in the middle of stalled renovations… How do you find someone currently with the abilities of Chat Noir who just doesn’t want to be found?”

“My other thought is what did his old man say or do to turn our boy? His Dad is a total piece of work, I know that, but Adrien is such a sunshine child that it shouldn’t have mattered.”

“This is true. Out of the whole class, he and Mari were the only ones who hadn’t been akumatized. I’m thinking for Mari, ol’ Hawk Butt would have to force the akuma down her throat for it to have a chance to take effect. She’s probably a prize he do anything to get. But Adrien…? He always walks such a fine line and never trips over it.”

“I know. He thinks the best of everyone and everything. How else could he tolerate Chloé for so long?”

“Might be something cumulative then. Something Gabriel said or some new rule he imposed, on top of that photo spread I’m now thinking Lila sent from his phone to the media. Nathalie did say he was out on a photo shoot when they were supposedly doing the do.”

Alya looked to the window, to the dark clouds covering the sky and the thick raindrop beginning to pelt the window panes.

“Wherever they are, I hope he got Mari someplace dry. _Météo_ is saying that’s going to get worse and go on all week.”

“I’m sure Adrien will take good care of Mari. He can deny it all he wants, but I see it. She’s more than just a friend to him.”

“Your mouth to his ears, Nino.”

* * *

Lila sat on her bed, staring at the email she had just received from that Agreste dragon lady of an assistant, Nathalie Sanscoeur.

She had read and re-read the correspondence over and over again, looking for some hidden meaning or some other way to interpret what was written or some hidden code she had to decipher.

To no avail.

It was pretty cut and dry.

_To Miss Lila Rossi,_

_In light of recent circumstances, your access to the following has been revoked:_

  * _Agreste Manor_
  * _Any and all engagements hosted or supported by Agreste Design_
  * _Any and all photo or publicity engagements hosted or supported by Agreste Design_
  * _Gabriel Agreste_
  * _Agreste Design staff, including all Agreste Manor personnel_
  * _Adrien Agreste_



_Any attempt by your person or through an intermediary to contact any of those listed above in person or electronically in any way will result in legal action._

_Any attempt to contact the media to disparage those listed above or to gain public sympathy towards yourself by claiming a misunderstanding or grievance will be viewed as libel and will be treated as such in a court of law._

_Your services will also no longer be required at any future modelling engagements._

She frowned at the text.

Perhaps that last photo had gone a little too far for Gabriel Agreste’s liking.

Not that it mattered, it had worked in Lila’s favour since no one from the Agreste household had publicly denied it. It had worried her some that the image wasn’t still circulating in the media. No matter the media site she went to, where she had previously bookmarked the link containing the story she had planted, the pages were now missing. The kind of scandal that picture could cause should have ensured it was fodder for every front page of the Paris newspapers for at the very least a month. And she should have received calls from fashion magazines about an interview by now.

The absence of both was disconcerting.

She had to find a way to talk to Gabriel Agreste somehow.

She had to explain the photo and why it was a good thing, at least find a plausible enough spin for him to swallow to that fact. Convince him this publicity was good for the company. Scandals had a way of selling a person or product to the masses. She had a few shady marketing sites she could fall back on to craft a plausible enough explanation.

And then she had to get in contact with Adrien.

Calling him resulted in nothing, everything was going to voicemail and he wasn’t returning any of them, at least yet.

Texting him got her nowhere. His phone was obviously receiving them, but he wasn’t messaging back.

She even tried the email account she had convinced that guy, Wayhem, to share with her, selling him a story about how good friends she and Adrien were, and she could arrange for him to have more access to the model.

But even the emails seemed to be ignored.

Was he following the instructions laid out in the email she had received from the assistant?

Had her communications been blocked?

Had he been forbidden from answering any of her communications?

He was far too polite to continuously ignore anyone trying to contact him, so he must have been forbidden to do so.

And the Sanscoeur woman was adamant the last time she spoke to her that Adrien was no longer in Paris. He was away on another super exclusive and private photoshoot for a clothing line Gabriel Agreste would be launching in the Summer of next year.

All the digging she did online, even on the shiftiest of sites regarding the fashion world, yielded nothing of where his latest photoshoot could be. Lila needed to know where he was in order to just suddenly appear out of nowhere.

Or at least know when he would return so she could miraculously drop in for a visit.

Nino had said Adrien would be worried for their missing classmate. Lila knew of Marinette’s crush on the boy, who in their class didn’t, but she had also noticed the attention Adrien had begun showing in the baker’s girl.

The smiles.

The desire to be in the same groups she was in.

The ease and comfort he seemed to have around her.

He seemed downright uncomfortable when Lila was with him or touching him, even Chloé Bourgeois, but not with Marinette.

He would touch her shoulder, casually sling an arm around her shoulders, take her hand to get her attention…

No, Lila had to be the sole presence around him, especially now. Without Marinette’s influence, Lila had a better chance of worming her way into Adrien’s heart. She had to be his comfort during this time, be the only person he could turn to and talk to.

It didn’t matter what he thought of the photo she took, she had to show him that only she cared enough and understood what he was going through, that she alone was his only true friend and confidant. She could twist the photo’s meaning to suit her tale.

She huffed in frustration before opening a blank email.

Legal threat be damned.

No one in the Agreste household was going to stop her from contacting the teen model and achieving the social status she deserved.

In the addressee field she began to add the emails to just about everyone, except Legal of course, who worked for Agreste Design.

Someone had to know something and she would find it.


	4. Chapter 4

Compared to the warehouse, this was a definite upgrade.

Chat Blanc had taken Marinette towards the _Mairie_ , specifically to one of the wings that had been undergoing renovations. Labour disputes had put those construction plans on indefinite hold, so it meant no one was in this wing. Also, no one could easily access this area due to the only staircase leading to these rooms had been demolished already.

This meant the floor was wide open and unencumbered for the hiding pair.

And, compared to the warehouse, it had running water and actual beds. This had probably been a guest wing for visiting municipal representatives.

Asking for an abandoned charging cable, or a computer of some sort that had been forgotten, had been wishful thinking though. She had found a tablet, but it was limited in connectivity and applications. Someone had locked it down from downloading or accessing any messaging services or email and the WIFI capabilities allowed for only a few sites to be reached, none of them online email or social services. 

And the charger had not been compatible with her phone. 

It did allow her to access news sites, so she wasn’t completely cut off from the world.

So, when she wasn’t sketching, she was browsing the local news to see what the city was up to. The sound of rain hitting the windows was a soothing sound despite everything. It had rained for almost the entire week now, sometimes hard with loud thunder that followed bright flashes of lightning, sometimes lighter to almost a thin drizzle. But it was always gray no matter the rain status. 

Sitting at the head of one of the beds, both kwami curled together on a pillow next to her, Marinette scrolled through yet another breaking report of a Chat Blanc sighting.

A smile came to her lips.

The akumatized teen still left her side each and every time he felt Hawk Moth trying to gain control of him. He would be away for hours on end before finally returning. Plagg no longer left with him, feeling the need wasn’t there anymore. It was clear Adrien was able to fight this akuma and he would always return. And the boy was a lot more careful to make sure no one followed him back, either making large detours or dashing off to virtually disappear from sight.

He would be back soon now.

In fact, the faint and familiar sound of his clawed hands and boots landing in the hallway outside signalled his return. Like he had done many times this week, he took the time to shake the excess rainwater off of himself before entering the room.

Her smile widened at the memory.

She had scolded him the first time her had returned a soaking mess as if nothing was. He had growled in return, both staring each other down, waiting for the other to back off in surrender. His angry pout made him look so comical that she had almost cracked and laughed at him. Marinette had won that battle and he never came back to her side before ensuring he was much drier.

Like now.

He crawled into the room on all fours like a cat suddenly unsure of the situation or environment, ears flattened back against his head. Marinette blinked at the scolded and dejected look he sported, at the fear that seemed to swim in his wide magenta eyes. 

Even the kwami seemed to pick up on the frightened energy he was radiating, floating up slightly from their pillow to watch the boy.

“Kitty?” she questioned.

He ducked at the sound of her voice, averting his eyes.

“Adrien?” she called softly.

Tentative eyes glanced over at her, unable to look for very long.

“Hey, Kitty,” and she patted the bedside to call him over.

His eyes darted around the room, almost expecting to see something to come after him suddenly, before darting forward to leap onto the bed, burying himself in the blankets Marinette had gathered from the other guestrooms. His chin came to rest on her knee, wide and almost terrified eyes staring up at her from his cave of covers.

Her movements slow and unthreatening, Marinette reached into the mess of fabric, one hand coming to rest on his cool and damp cheek while the other threaded through rain-soaked hair. She could feel his trembling form start to relax as his eyes closed, seemingly reassured by her touch.

“Hey… What’s wrong, my kitten?”

Tikki and Plagg floated closer as the feline keened timidly.

Plagg frowned at the sound and moved just a little closer. “What did he say to you?” he prompted, not sure he had heard right.

Magenta eyes opened to him and he keened again.

Plagg floated upwards, a raging maelstrom of dark energy whipping and roiling around him as he glared off through one of the windows.

“I am Cataclysming that assholes scrawny little butt into oblivion!” he roared, voice seeming to echo in raw power. 

“Plagg…!” Tikki called to her counterpart, reacting to the awed fear from her Chosen and the akumatized boy.

He glared at her, but his anger was directed somewhere else. “No one can say those things to my kittens and be allowed to live!”

“What did he say?”

“Demeaning things! Evil things! Called him a waste! Called him worthless! My kitten is anything but worthless and a waste! If he wasn’t exceptional, I wouldn’t be his kwami!”

Marinette reached out to him, enfolding his tiny form in her hands and effectively dissipating the dark aura surrounding him.

“Shh, Plagg, you’re scaring Adrien,” she half scolded.

It seemed to be what flicked off his anger. The kwami freed himself from her hands and drifted down to be at eye-level with his Chosen still cocooned in the multitude of blankets.

“Sorry, kid,” he apologized to the boy, slowly floating towards him. “I didn’t mean to go off like that. You are my Chosen, the single most important person to me. So, when I hear a piece of trash like Hawk Moth trying to bad-mouth you, I have a tendency to get a little over-protective.”

Chat Blanc made a sound like a plaintive mewl.

“Of course, you’re worth it!” the black cat replied. “Nothing he says or your Father says means anything.”

The boy chuffed low, magenta eyes closing, and Plagg nuzzled into his cheek.

Marinette had to smile at the two, seeing their bond mirrored by her bond with Tikki, amazed that it extended even into this akumatization.

“Hawk Moth intended for Adrien to be big and mean,” she voiced to the room. “He had hoped to make a monster and a terror out of him. But just like the other Chat Blanc, my Kitty is just far too sweet and Adrien just far too gentle to be any kind of menace.”

Chat Blanc harrumphed at her indignantly. 

She chuckled and scratched his scalp, pulling a purr from the boy.

“It’s true, and you know it. The only people who need to fear you are the bad guys.”

“… purr-rrrotect… Marrri…” he rumbled through his purr.

“But Mari wants to protect her Kitty, too.” He looked up at her. “You can’t stay like this forever.”

“… purr-rrrotect…”

“You can still do that as Chat Noir, and as Adrien, too, without the help of an akuma.”

He made a murph sound, looking as if he was actually considering her words.

“And I can make sure that Ladybug protects Adrien and Chat Noir while Marinette watches out for both of you when she can’t.” She let her fingers drift to one of his feline ears to scratch the base of it. “We can watch out for each other, without the akuma.”

Chat Blanc blinked at her slowly.

“Any time you need to, as Chat or as Adrien, you can come to me. We can talk or text if something is bothering you, or you don’t even have to say anything, we’ll just sit together until you feel better. I’ll tell you again when you’re no longer akumatized.”

Marinette could almost see the wheels in his mind turning, calculating the value of her words versus what both his rational and akumatized mind knew of the girl. She bit her lip, hoping she was judging the look correctly, and carefully cupped his cheeks.

“Adrien…” she called gently. Then, when his eyes met hers, “What did the akuma infect?”

He hesitated, a reflex all akuma victims seemed to share. Something Hawk Moth probably _programed_ into the akuma to ensure the victims protected them and the infected item instead of just handing it over. But he fought it, as he did every aspect of his unnatural transformation.

“… picturrre…”

“A picture? A picture in your room?”

He nodded. “… fffammmily…”

“Of all three of you?”

He nodded again.

It explained a lot since his Father was the cause of his current predicament. He no doubt had been looking at a family picture of happier times, wondering when things had changed so much.

Tikki smiled thinly. “Well, now we know what to look for. All we have to do now is convince him we need to go to his room.”

He growled his displeasure at that thought.

“If we do this right, we won’t even have to face your Father,” Marinette counselled. “I can go on my own, if you want?”

He growled again, louder this time.

“Okay, or not. It’s not like I wouldn’t be more than happy to string him up like a limp sausage.” This won a small grin from the boy. “You could go get the item, maybe?”

He sniffed in clear distaste of that idea as well.

“It doesn’t have to be right now, but this is something that will have to be done.” She scratched his scalp gently. “The longer you stay like this, the greater Hawk Moth’s chances are of gaining control over you. I don’t want to lose you like I did in that other timeline.”

“… keep… Marrri… sssafffe…”

She smiled gently. “You always do, my kitten. Never doubt that.”

Eyes closing, Chat Blanc turned his face away and scooted closer to the girl until his cheek was pressed against her belly, arms around her hips. Her fingers dug through his hair, scratching gentle circles both to sooth and try to convince him.

But he had already decided.

What was left of his rational mind, of Adrien’s mind, had already weighed all the options. 

He felt her recline back against the pillows, pulling the covers up around them both for the evening. Allowing himself the small luxury of snuggling against her side, Chat Blanc continued to think about his current situation.

Hawk Moth couldn’t akumatize anyone else while he still had the akuma infecting that picture in his room, so that lessened the risk to the city. Staying as Chat Blanc increased his strength and speed, his power becoming almost infinite and making himself all that better as a partner and protector to Ladybug, but he had no home in the city like he was. 

He had no doubt Marinette would take him in, though her parents would probably need convincing. 

And she might have to reveal herself to them to ensure they were convinced.

But staying as Chat Blanc also increased the chances that Hawk Moth would double his efforts to either take control of him, or find a way of cancelling the akuma. Something he did to the little butterfly obviously made it hard to just recall it. It was really just a matter of time before he figured out how to exert his will on the akuma.

He had to keep Marinette safe.

He had to keep Ladybug safe.

They were one and the same, something his primal mind was having difficulty putting together, but his Adrien mind was thrilled beyond compare.

And it terrified him.

If Hawk Moth found out Ladybug was Marinette, he would attack her family and her friends to get to her, make her give up her Miraculous in exchange to just to keep them all safe. She would do that without hesitation. He had seen how close she came to that before when Volpina had cast an illusion of Adrien to pretend she was holding him hostage. Ladybug had come to within a millisecond of removing her earrings when the akuma had threatened to drop the boy.

If he didn’t go after her family and friends, Hawk Moth could find a way to target her specifically. He could keep her from transforming by always making sure she was a target of all his attacks.

He could hear her breath evening out as sleep took hold. Opening his eyes he caught sight of their kwami curled together on a pillow.

Raising his head, Chat Blanc looked up at his charge. A pleasant pang struck his heart at the trust and peace he saw written on her face. Making sure to keep the blankets tucked around her, Chat Blanc sat up at her side and just watched her sleep.

His rational mind was screaming at him, wondering how he could have missed this girl also being Ladybug.

There had to be some magic at play, something subtle enough not to feel, but that kind of pushed any recognition to the farthest reaches of the mind.

She was Ladybug.

 _His_ Ladybug.

And she was Marinette.

 _His_ Mari…

His?

The memories were there, feeling like a dream when he tried to remember them, tenuous and fleeting. 

There were so many moments when he had seen her stumble and blush when she was around him, how she had been a stuttering mess when he was there. 

He had been an idiot, he realized. 

All those had been clear signs that he had seen several times before in all the manga he had read and watched.

A girl had a very clear and powerful crush on someone when she became an utter bundle of nerves when that person was mentioned or was near.

It was a distinct formula in every manga out there.

So… Marinette liked him?

But all the times she had denied it? 

That was in the manga as well.

Was she that shy around him because of her feelings for him?

But Ladybug had mentioned someone she loved…

Luka had showed an interest in Marinette.

He fought hard against the growl that threatened to erupt at the thought of that boy wanting his Ladybug. 

Then, with a blink, he dared entertain the thought that Luka was the boy Ladybug had spoken of. It didn’t make sense though. The boy had come for her, she had the chance to leave with him. Instead, Marinette had stayed and had told Luka to leave.

Thinking back, she didn’t have the stuttering or stumbling or mad blushes when Luka was around. She acted as she always did around her friends. She could easily have been talking to any other male in their class, there was no difference.

He huffed silently.

Something to figure out at a later time.

Carefully using a clawed finger, Chat Blanc moved a stray lock of hair away from her face. 

She had been right; he couldn’t stay like this.

He was a liability like this.

Hawk Moth had to be defeated by Ladybug and Chat Noir, not Chat Blanc.

As much as he disliked the idea of going back, he had to go back to Agreste Manor and retrieve the photo. It had to be somewhere close to his bed, that’s where he had been standing when he had felt the surge of power.

Moving slowly and making no sound, Chat Blanc crept from the bed and left the room. It was a short few steps to the demolished wall at the end of the hall, and even less hops to the rooftops. The rain was more of a mist over the city now, gathering in thick fog banks along the edge of the Seine. Streetlights looked like loosely formed orbs in the night, the rare few people walking the streets nothing more that shapeless shadows in the mist.

Chat Blanc nodded to himself as he leapt across to the next roof. His current white coloring would disappear in the light fog. He could move around freely without being seen.

A few minutes later, following the secret path along the rooftops only known to Paris’s Heroes, Chat Blanc arrived at his target. 

All the lights within were out, but that didn’t mean there wasn’t anyone inside, possibly even watching from the windows. 

The feline carefully kept out of sight, watching every single window for any movement. One mighty leap took him across the street to the wall encircling Agreste Manor, keeping away from any of the cameras he knew dotted the perimeter. Another leapt took him through the open window of his room, landing without so much as a whisper on the coarse carpeting.

He sniffed the air cautiously.

All scents were faded from time, attesting to the fact no one had come to this room since his akumatization.

Quietly crawling on all fours, Chat Blanc neared his desk. On the floor, glowing faintly from the new kind of akuma within, was the last item he had been holding when the white butterfly had made its appearance.

Picking it up, he just stared at the three figures frozen in time in the photograph. He was young in it, maybe just past toddler years, and he was smiling brightly. As was his Mother in that almost knowing and serene way she could, as if the world held no mysteries from her. And finally, there was his Father, sporting a rare and reserved smile, something he saw maybe once every few months.

A happier time was forever immortalized in that picture.

Chat Blanc silently tucked it into a handkerchief from nearby and then into the collar of his suit before going completely still, eyes fixed on the door.

Someone was coming.

Just as the door opened, he leapt up to the ledge above it that formed the launch platform for his skateboard ramp.

Nathalie entered his room, phone to her ear.

“I am checking now, Sir,” she spoke, no doubt his Father on the other end.

He stalked over to the top of his climbing wall as he watched her approach his computer. It was clear she was looking for something. She checked every surface, the waste bin, under the desk and nearby bed, before finally sighing heavily in defeat.

“I can’t find anything, Sir. Chances are he still has it with him.”

He saw her suddenly twitch from something she saw on his monitor screen before she whirled around to face where he was perched, a startled gasp torn from her lips, phone dropping to the floor.

Chat Blanc hissed at her menacingly, two quick leaps taking him to the floor and then out the window into the night again.

He didn’t know what she was looking for in his room for his Father, nor did he really care. He had the item he needed and that was all that mattered.

Soon he would be Adrien again.

He promised himself to remember everything from the past few days. 

He just had to.

Marinette was his Ladybug.

His Lady.

She had risked everything to stay with him during his akumatization. Had Hawk Moth gained control over him, he would have been forced to bring her to him, or worse, to fight her for her Miraculous. 

But she had stayed, despite this.

The Adrien part of his mind was already working up scripts to declare his love for her and ask her to become his girlfriend. 

They would go on dates every free weekend and he would bring her to all his photoshoots just to have her near. 

And as superheroes, they would play games of tag between Akuma attacks or they could just cuddle on a sunny rooftop in the day, or have a nighttime picnic on the Eiffel Tower.

To be honest, Chat Blanc liked those ideas.

To his primal mind, this girl was, for all intents and purposes, his mate.

She wasn’t afraid of him.

She cared.

So, he had to remember everything. To forget now and go back to just being friends… that would be a tragedy.

He knew Marinette would be so proud of him tonight for going to retrieve the photo. She hadn’t been overtly insistent that he do this, but her gentle little nudges from time to time let him know this was important. This would make her very happy.

As much as he wanted to protect her, keep her safe from men like his Father, and seeing as the entire city was now chasing after him, Chat Blanc had to change back to Adrien.

Maybe he could find a way to continue being her protector as Adrien when he couldn’t be Chat Noir at every moment of the day?

Unseen, he ducked into the open window at the _Mairie_ , taking a moment to slick the water that had misted onto his suit. With a quick shake of his head to rid his hair of the rain, he bounded down the empty hall towards their shared room…

And then froze.

There was an unknown scent in the air. 

No, a few different scents.

Two unknown males. 

At first, he thought one of them was Luka, but the scent was too different now that he sampled it properly. It was older than the teen, both of them were.

Two adults.

And there was a chemical scent with them.

He didn’t like that one. It made his senses feel thick and fuzzy.

He dashed into the room, prepared for a fight, only to find it empty if not a mess from a struggle.

So, his Marinette hadn’t gone willingly without a fight.

Not friends then.

A ferocious growl rumbled in his throat.

If they hurt her in any way, intentional or not…

“There you are!” an almost relieved voice exclaimed from above him.

Magenta eyes darted up to find Plagg flying down from a hiding spot in the cracked ceiling.

Chat Blanc snapped at him in reproach.

“Back off, kid, I did not abandon anyone. Tikki told me to stay behind for you when you came back from wherever it was you went to. Where did you go?”

Chat Blanc rumbled his response and Plagg blinked, looking down at the breast of his suit.

“Oh… you…” He smiled suddenly. “Good kitty!”

Pride flashed in the boy’s eyes and the growl dropped by an octave.

“Two men, they didn’t talk much. I think they used something along the lines of chloroform or ether or something on her. It stank.”

Another growl.

“I’m tracking Tikki. She stayed with pigtails so she can transform if worse gets to worse.”

The boy sniffed, Plagg gripping onto his shoulder before he took off at a sprint back outside. He clambered onto the rooftops and, at his kwami’s instructions, headed south. The path he was soon following was strangely familiar.

Coming to the edge of a last roof, Chat Blanc snarled at the edifice Plagg had directed him to.

Agreste Manor.

“I’m telling you, Tikki is in there so pigtails is in there too.”

Chat Blanc growled harshly.

“I know, it probably means your Father is responsible. As cold as Nathalie can be sometimes, she’d never act without the old man’s say so.”

The boy sat back on his haunches in thought. Given any other situation, he would have rushed in and be damned the consequences. 

But Ladybug was in there, untransformed. 

True, her kwami was with her and, true, she could transform at any moment to escape the situation.

But she would never risk revealing herself to just anyone, especially not his Father after knowing what he had done to Adrien recently.

A half hiss, half grunt passed his lips, directed to his kwami.

“Tikki’s in the top of the house, that fourth floor attic space. No idea how we’re going to get in there without being seen if we have to go through the house.”

Chat Blanc regarded the drab grey tiles. From the front of the house there was nothing distinct about that roof. And then a memory struck him, a renovation that was done a few years ago. A window had been put in at the back of the house, but it was sealed. The frame was still there, it was still visible, yet there was no way anyone could see out of it when there was tile over the glass.

A faux window.

His Father never did anything without a reason, so this faux window had a reason for being.

Whatever it was, it also gave him the perfect way in. The roof had to be thin there and should be easy to break through with Cataclysm.

He huffed and Plagg blinked.

“A blocked off window? Worth a try, kid.”

A few powerful leaps brought him to the back of the house, walking the small balustrade lined with an elaborate wrought-iron fence. Sure enough, the outline of the window was still there, but it was open now. Quietly he snuck up to the edge of the opening, peering inside.

It took everything both felines had not to hiss angrily at the sight.

Hawk Moth!

Chat Blanc pulled himself out of sight, keening quietly.

“Your Father is Hawk Moth,” Plagg hissed. “This explains so much about the asshole’s actions and personality.” The kwami flew to the window’s edge to peer in, his tiny size making it much more probable that he wouldn’t be seen. “I see Marinette!” he exclaimed in a whisper. “She’s on the far side of the room near the wall and I think she’s just starting to wake up. Man, is he in for a tongue lashing in a few minutes from now or what?”

The boy rumbled in questioning.

“He’s in the middle of the room. What’s he…? By the Makers, is he monologuing? Wow, he talks to his butterflies. I knew Hawk Moth was a nutcase…”

Another rumbled from the boy.

“He’ll see your shadow at the very least. No, sneaking in is not an option. You’ll have to do a direct attack.”

Yet another rumble.

“Sure, I can get to her, but why?”

Chat Blanc reached into his collar to pull out the wrapped photo, holding it out to Plagg.

“You want me to get it to her?”

The cat nodded.

“While you fight, um, him?”

He nodded with a growl.

Plagg stared at him in awe, blindly taking the wrapped photo. “I don’t say this half as much as I should. Kid, you are something really tough and special, you know that?”

A gleaming fang poked over Chat Blanc’s lip when he huffed a lopsided grin at his kwami. He then signaled him to wait a moment after he attacked to ensure he would have Hawk Moth’s full attention. Plagg only nodded in agreement, clutching his precious cargo just a little tighter in his arms. The white cat crawled low beneath the window to come to a crouch at the middle of it. Slowly, so as not to attract attention until it was too late, he wrapped his clawed fingers around the edge of the frame to use it for leverage.

Then he paused, casting his mind back to all the times his Father had verbally lashed out at him, or ruined a planned dinner or outing, or had ignored him for some reason or other. He was willing himself to rage, the use the anger to attack Hawk Moth regardless of who he was behind his mask. He had terrorized the city for months on end with his akuma. And now knowing that this was Gabriel Agreste as well, it only made Chat Blanc’s blood boil at knowing this was his Father all this time.

The drop that tipped the bucket was taking Marinette to use her against him.

Joke was on Hawk Moth.

Taking Marinette only ensured Chat Blanc would be merciless against him.

Muscles coiled for a brief heartbeat and the teen launched himself into the room, aiming for the man in purple standing in the centre of the room.

Hawk Moth never had a chance to move, the white shape colliding into him and sending both sprawling across the floor.

Being feline, Chat Blanc rolled to his feet quicker than his opponent, dashing forward again to continue his attack, claws and teeth bared.

Lashing his cane to ward him off, it sounded as if Hawk Moth was going to try to speak to him, no doubt to convince him to work with him.

Chat Blanc would not give him the opportunity, ducking under the swing of the cane and slashing at him.

His claws caught the edge of the suit, tearing long strips through the fabric effortlessly.

The villain tried to jump back and put some distance between them.

Again, Chat Blanc never gave him the chance, his attack relentless.

Keeping a wary eye on the battle, Plagg flew quickly along the room’s perimeter towards Marinette. She was just starting to sit up, supporting her head groggily in one hand. He came up to her face, keening loud enough to catch only her attention.

She looked up and blinked. “Plagg…? What…?”

“No time to explain in detail right now. Adrien went to get the photo, Hawk Moth found you and kidnapped you, Hawk Moth is Gabriel, and Adrien is beating the tar out of him right now.”

She could only stare, absorbing the information in building shock, eyes drawn to the battle going on nearby.

“The kid wants you to hold on to this,” and Plagg pushed the wrapped photo into her hand.

Blankly she looked at the item she now held, unwrapping it slowly while Plagg dove into her purse. The photo glowed strangely, making the three smiling faces look weird, for lack of a better word. She looked up to Adrien, her partner, fighting against Hawk Moth with all his feral skills.

This was their enemy and his Father.

How was she going to explain this to Adrien once she cleansed him?

Later.

This was something to figure out later, after he would be cleansed.

From the corner of her eye, Marinette caught movement in the shadows trying to near her without being noticed.

Instinct caused her to roll on herself, clutching the photo tight to herself.

Getting to her feet, she found herself face-to-face with Mayura, the Peacock Miraculous holder.

“Clever girl,” the villainess smirked. “But it’s useless to fight me. I have the power of a Miraculous. Just give me the photograph, Marinette, and we’ll let you go.”

She took a tentative step back, re-wrapping the photo. “So, you and Hawk Moth can use it to control Adrien? Not likely.”

“This is for the greater good. He needs Chat Blanc to—”

“To get Ladybug and Chat Noir’s Miraculous, blah, blah, blah. I know the speech. Gabriel Agreste has no right to use Adrien like this.”

Mayura blinked. “So, you know.”

“I know, and I’ll be damned if I let either of you get control of him, or get the Miraculous. I would rather die first.”

A grim expression settled on the woman’s blue-colored face. “So be it.”

In a flurry of blue fabric and feathers, the woman rushed the girl in clear intent.

What she hadn’t counted on was Marinette being able to easily dodge the lunge, dropping to the floor and using her body to trip her attacker. This one was unable to stop her momentum, not having expected the move, and ended in an unceremonious sprawl on the floor, the wind temporarily knocked out of her.

Marinette scrambled back to her feet and ran to the other side of the room, putting the combatants between herself and Mayura.

She reached the other wall in time to hear Hawk Moth cry out in agony.

Chat Blanc had slashed a series of bloodied gouges across the man’s chest.

Mayura called out to Hawk Moth in worry, rushing to his side as he toppled over, catching him before he hit the ground.

His back arched dangerously, tail lashing back and forth in barely contained rage, Chat Blanc stared him down with a vicious snarl, daring either of them to do anything. Marinette stood behind him; the photo clutched protectively to her heart.

Tired eyes raised up to the pair, pained and pleading.

“You don’t understand,” Hawk Moth gasped.

Chat Blanc snapped at him to silence him.

“We don’t need to understand,” Marinette replied. “You had no right to use Adrien like you did. Look at him! Look what you did to your Son!”

“I had my reasons! I would have changed him back after…”

“After what? After you got the Ladybug and Chat Noir Miraculous? Don’t you get it? They will never give them up! They will always defeat you! And nothing justifies hurting Adrien this much!”

“I’m doing this to bring back his Mother!”

Marinette paused at that, eyes wide, digesting his words. 

More secrets to keep. 

More to find time to tell him about later. 

“And who’s life would you sacrificed to bring her back?” she heard herself ask.

Both villains had a surprised start at that.

“Ladybug told me how it works. Equal exchange. So, a life for a life. It makes no difference why you’re doing all this, it’s still wrong. Who would have to die to bring her back? Who would you end up killing?”

The usually verbose terrorist could only gape in return. Nooroo had warned him of this same thing, but he had chalked it up to a fear of reprimand from the timid kwami. 

And now this child was repeating the same thing.

Using both Miraculous together could grant the wearer anything they might want, any wish.

But the cost would be equal measure to their request.

Could he choose?

Did he have the right to take someone away from someone else, put that chosen victim’s family through what he had gone through when Emilie slipped away?

“No!” Mayura exclaimed in defiance. “We’ll make the right choice! We’ll choose someone who deserves to die!”

Marinette shook her head at them. “What makes you think the Miraculous would let you choose?”

The woman was at a loss for words, falling silent.

“Strange that it took an ordinary girl to make you finally see what everyone has been telling you all this time,” the teen voiced softly.

She approached Chat Blanc, a gentle hand to his back. Raised fur smoothed out, his anger seemingly to melt away when he looked over his shoulder at her, his stance straightening to something more human. He understood the look she was giving him, one slightly pleading and tired. He swept her up in his arms, preparing to leave through the window.

“Adrien…” Hawk Moth called, desperation entering his tone.

Chat Blanc whirled around and snarled at him, warning him off. The man merely shrank back.

In a blink, the teens were gone.

Gabriel dropped his transformation, glancing at Nathalie just as she dropped her own transformation. Their kwami remained silent, watching their wielders in worry. Blood seeped through Gabriel’s ruined suit, oozing over his hand that he pressed to his chest in a futile effort to stem the flow.

“Did… did I truly get this all wrong?” he questioned softly, not intending to receive an answer.

“We should get that wound tended to, Sir,” Nathalie counselled, urging him to his feet.

“She knows,” he whispered. “Miss Marinette knows everything now.”

Nathalie led him through the secret hallways to his office, ensuring to lock the door behind them so as not to be disturbed. She got her employer to sit at his desk before she busied herself collecting the small but important medical kit she had tucked in a drawer long ago. Gabriel never reacted to the pain he must have felt when she tried to carefully peel the bloodied clothes away from his wounds.

“If, by some chance, Adrien remembers nothing once he’s cleansed, she will tell him,” he muttered as Nathalie cleaned his injuries. “With my luck lately, he will believe her and take this information to the authorities.”

“There still a chance to convince her not to say anything. Maybe offer her an internship in exchange for her silence, as an aspiring designer she will want this desperately.”

“I know she’ll reject it. Who would want to work for Hawk Moth?”

“I work for Hawk Moth.”

He almost smiled. “Yes, but you want Emilie back as much as I do. No, anything I may try to offer this young lady will be refused. She has a strong belief in justice and morality, I have always felt it in her. Adrien once referred to her as an _everyday Ladybug_.”

Nathalie’s hands stilled. “Then we should prepare for the eventual appearance of the authorities at your door.”

The man huffed. “Jail almost seems too kind for what I’ve done.” Then, after a long pause, “I should have never akumatized Adrien, even if just to test my new akuma. What would Emilie have thought of me for doing that? I truly am a monster.”

He looked up to the painting of his wife hanging on the wall, his expression dropping sadly.

“I’ve failed in my promise to you, my dearest Emilie,” he sighed, resigned. “And now, not only have a lost you, I’ve lost our Son.”

“If it’s any consolation, Sir, I have put contingencies into place in case this sort of thing happened. Adrien will be cared for, regardless of what happens now.”

He merely nodded solemnly.

* * *

Marinette was silent as she watched Chat Blanc bounce into the room at the _Mairie_ , allowing herself only the tiniest smiles as he was congratulated and fawned over by the two kawmi. They were calling him a good boy for how he behaved and fought. Plagg boasted that Adrien was his best Chosen to date and this battle against his akumatizer was just the added proof to it all. 

The white feline preened proudly.

She was proud of him too.

She was always proud of him.

He was her partner.

He was the love of her life.

Hot tears suddenly stung her eyes as her breath caught in her throat.

And it just wasn’t fair!

She crushed the photo to her heart as she fell to her knees, unable to stop the tears trailing down her cheeks. Tikki flew over to her immediately, having felt the shift of emotions in her Chosen.

“Marinette…” she keened ever so softly.

“It’s just not fair!” she hiccupped in deep sobs. “He shouldn’t have to deal with all… all this!”

Chat Blanc carefully approached her, making his movements as slow and non-threatening as possible. Watery blue eyes met magenta.

“You… you shouldn’t have to deal with… with any of this…” she cried. “You give… you give so much… of yourself to everyone…”

His ears flattened back, pained by her grief.

“You… you have such a beautiful soul… such a… a generous heart…” 

She cupped his cheek, peering into his face through her tears. She could see them both behind this akuma mask, both Chat Noir and Adrien. Both of them looked back in worry for her. It was what she loved about him, his selflessness despite whatever he was going through. It was something that shone through both his personas, and it made it feel so much more unfair.

He let so many people tell him what he had to do, where he had to be, when none of them had ever kept a single promise they had made to him.

Breaking his heart felt impossible, but she could see the cracks so clearly now. It took this akuma to make everything so clear to her now.

Chat Blanc turned his face enough to nuzzle her palm, enjoying the warmth she offered freely.

“You should… you should have a perfect life… Your Father should have loved you, he… he shouldn’t have become Hawk Moth…”

She sniffed pitifully, trying to control her sobs.

“If… If you forget… do I tell you? Do I have the right to… to hurt you like that?”

“… Marrri…” he rumbled softly, pulling her into a tight hug, resting his chin on her shoulder.

Marinette clung to him like a lifeline, letting herself begin to cry again against his shoulder. 

Lying was not an option, but the truth was no better. Both would hurt her partner, her best friend, and she couldn’t willingly do that.

“… trrruth…” he purred gently.

The girl had to blink to herself for a moment to make sure she had heard correctly, before pulling back enough to see his face. The look he gave her confirmed she had heard right.

“Adrien is right, Marinette,” Tikki voiced carefully.

“The kid would want the truth no matter what, especially from you,” added Plagg.

The little red kwami bobbed in agreement. “Often times the truth is rarely what a person wants to hear, but it is what they need to hear.”

“… Marrri… fffammmily…” Chat Blanc purred. “… My… Lady…”

“I can’t leave you with that… that monster. Not after knowing all this.”

“… Marrri… prrrotect… Adrrrien…”

“Always, but I can’t do that to you.”

“You don’t have much of a choice, pigtails,” Plagg stated. “He doesn’t go back to his Father after he’s cleansed, the asshole will simply launch a manhunt to get him back. But, if you make sure to tell Adrien everything that happened after he was akumatized, he can hold it over Daddy Dearest’s head.”

“As much as I dislike blackmail,” Tikki began. “This is something we both agree needs to happen. You got through to Hawk Moth, to a certain degree, about how what he’s doing is wrong. If Adrien turns against him too, Gabriel will have to realize that his actions won’t result in what he wants.”

“He doesn’t know who you or the kid really are,” added the cat kwami. “He just knows there are two teens who know his secret now. For him, that has to rattle his nerves enough to maybe, just maybe, stop for good.”

Marinette’s shoulders drooped. “That’s a stretch, at best.”

“A thin chance is often more than some people get in life.”

Tikki smiled. “And a thin chance is often all Ladybug needs to turn the worst of situations into a success.”

Chat Blanc nosed her cheek. “… Marrri… trrruth…” he urged.

Her hand rested at the base of his jaw, fingers curling in a gentle scratch.

The weight of the situation weighed heavy on the girl’s shoulders. 

She knew everything.

She had been right all those months ago: Hawk Moth and Gabriel Agreste were one and the same.

He wanted the Ladybug and Chat Noir Miraculous to bring back his lost wife, regardless of the cost. That, alone, spoke to the madness his grief had driven him to.

Mayura was still a mystery, but she had to be someone close to the family to want to help Hawk Moth.

Adrien Agreste and Chat Noir were the same person. Her partner and her love, there was no distinction to be had.

All the conversations they had on Paris’s rooftops at night now made sense. He had spoken of his isolation and the pressures put on his civilian self. Part of her had noted the similarities from what she knew about the teen model’s life.

But they were right, Chat Blanc and the kwami.

Holding on to this information, trying to keep him sheltered from it, would not help Adrien.

He needed to know in order to escape it.

Forehead to forehead with Chat Blanc, Marinette exhaled heavily through her nose, holding the photo to her heart.

“Alright,” she whispered softly. “Truth.”


	5. Chapter 5

The message had gone out to ever single possible screen across Paris.

Ladybug was requesting the public’s assistance in staying off the streets for the next few hours. There was no danger, but she was dealing with a new kind of akuma and didn’t know what might happen during its purification. She wanted to ensure that if anything did happen, the people would be protected.

She also asked for a police presence around the _Mairie_ to ensure that those who didn’t listen to her instructions would be held at bay.

Hence why Alya, Nino, and Luka were currently standing behind a police barrier, waiting for Ladybug to make her appearance. The reporter was miffed at the angle she was forced to view at, but anything was better than nothing. At least she was against the barricade and not forced behind the throngs of reporters and gawkers also gathered with her and her friends.

And at least it had finally stopped raining.

“You think Ladybug will really purify Adrien out in the open?” Nino questioned only loud enough for his friends to hear.

“She had to prove to the city that Chat Noir isn’t the liability they already think he is,” Luka reasoned.

“Harsh, Bro.”

“But true. You saw the posts on Alya’s blog after he was turned into Chat Blanc. People don’t trust him as much anymore. By doing this, she proving to everyone that Chat Noir, despite being absent in all this, was not the monster people assumed he had become because of an akuma. It’ll put a stem on those comments for a bit at least.”

Alya huffed. “I make it a point to delete those posts. He doesn’t deserve the hate. Hero or not, Chat Noir is still human and is susceptible to an akuma like the rest of us. Besides, he wasn’t even here, so how can anyone even blame him?”

Luke seemed to hesitate. “Think Ladybug will bring Marinette with them?”

A small smile touched the girl’s lips, at the hint of worry she heard in his voice. 

“I don’t think so. She put a warning out to the city, so chances are she took Mari someplace safe and then she’ll get her after.”

Nino rocked back on his heels, eyes fixing the rooftops. “You know, when the media finds out it was ol’Gabe who caused Adrien to be akumatized, his PR team will have the hardest time putting a positive spin on it.”

“Could humanize the bastard a little,” Alya suggested, pulling out her phone to get her camera ready.

“Wishful thinking, Babe.”

An eerie silence seemed to fall over the crowd before someone shouted to look up at the rooftops.

Stalking the edge of the roof, magenta eyes watching the crowd and the gathered police, Chat Blanc made his presence known. Alya immediately whipped her camera up to film him, not wanting to miss an instant. He didn’t seem menacing or angry, merely hesitant.

“It’s alright!” Ladybug announced from the centre of the plaza. “He won’t hurt anyone!”

 _Nice trick,_ the aspiring reporter smirked, zooming out to capture both her and Chat Blanc in one shot. Ladybug had used the attention everyone was giving the akuma to seem to come out of nowhere.

From somewhere in the line of police officers, the sounds of a commotion beginning reached the gathered curious and reporters.

When Chat Blanc coiled and leapt from his perch towards the heroine, someone cried out, the blur of a shape rushing forward to grab the firearm off one of the officers. This one had the presence of mind to quickly knock it out of the person’s hands before a shot could be fired off.

Alya blinked at the sight.

Lila Rossi?

She had intended to shoot Chat Blanc?

“I’m telling you; he’s attacking us!” the Italian teen near shrieked. “You have to shoot him now before he kills us all!”

But that was hardly the case and, from the sudden look on Lila’s face, she was caught in her lie at the sight.

Ladybug was standing in front of Chat Blanc; her arms outstretched to protect and shield him. He was bent on himself in trepidation, ears pinned back and eyes wide.

“The first person who tries anything to hurt him will have to face me!” Ladybug challenged the crowd, though to Alya it looked as though she was issuing the warning solely to Lila.

There was history there she would have to investigate.

Scanning the crown, the heroine spotted the trio standing at the barricade. So there would be no mistake, she called to the three by name, beckoning them over. Alya saw her turn back to the boy, whispering reassurances to him.

“… protect Adrien. Remember?” she heard her tell him gently, to which he nodded.

“Luka, Nino, I want you to be ready to catch him,” Ladybug began. “He’s been under the influence of this new kind of akuma for over a week and I don’t know what that did to him. Alya, I want you recording. I want the world to see what Gabriel Agreste caused in his own Son.”

Alya frowned slightly. “Not a fan of his, I take it?”

“I was, but that he could do this to his own family… There’s more, but that will come out later.” She cupped Chat Blanc’s cheek warmly, bravely meeting his eyes. “Ready?”

He nodded, squaring his shoulders.

Ladybug pulled out the photo and just stared at it for a long moment. She didn’t want to damage such a precious item of him. She knew that her Miraculous Cure would fix this if she called on a Lucky Charm, but there was no other damage to fix.

A tiny voice inside her whispered to use her yo-yo, explaining how.

She pulled the item off her hip, touching two spots. The yo-yo opened like a compact the inside glowing much like the magical storage it could offer. But the glow was different, warmer somehow. Carefully she slipped the photo into its depths and the yo-yo snapped shut, almost catching her fingers.

Chat Blanc went ramrod straight, eyes suddenly vacant, and the other two boys gripped his arms, prepared for whatever would come next.

The yo-yo vibrated harshly, working on purifying the item within.

Suddenly it snapped open again and a black butterfly floated out from its depths. It barely made it a foot away from the magical device before it seemed to hesitate.

And then it crumbled to ash.

An ugly bubbling mist, it’s color indescribable, roiled and encapsulated Chat Blanc for an instant, dissipating in the blink of an eye.

Adrien Agreste, his eyes closed, slumped backwards and unconscious, caught by his friends who gently lowered him to the cobblestones.

Still filming, Alya motioned for some paramedics to come over and treat the boy. These ones rushed to work, checking eyes and vitals in a carefully rehearsed choreography they had performed over and over again.

“We’ll take him to get checked out at the hospital just in case, but it looks like he’ll be okay,” one of the technicians reassured. “We call this akuma exhaustion.”

Ladybug felt the tension ease out of her shoulders at that. “Good. These three are his friends and will go with him. I have a girl I need to drop off to her parents.”

“Marinette, she… she’s okay, right?” Luka questioned as Adrien was loaded onto a stretcher.

Ladybug smiled, though Alya thought she saw a hint of sadness in her eyes.

“Marinette is fine, Chat Blanc was the perfect kitten with her. But right now, both she and Adrien need rest. She’ll be back with her parents soon, and Adrien will need friends around him for when his Father shows up.”

“If he shows up. The old man really caused this, didn’t he,” Nino posed, more of a statement than a question.

“Unfortunately, and who knows for what other reason aside from Lila Rossi’s latest stunt. Go with Adrien now. Explanations can wait until later.”

The teens agreed and quickly joined the paramedics wheeling their friend on a gurney to a waiting ambulance.

Ladybug watched, every fibre of her being screaming to jump into the ambulance and go with Adrien. She would have liked nothing more. But her presence at his side would have raised questions with his Father, questions she didn’t want the older man to even think of at this point.

She heard Lila cry out in surprise at finding out the teen model had been Chat Blanc all this time, that she had almost shot him. There was certain sense of satisfaction at seeing Alya momentarily round on her and rip into the girl. The truly satisfying part was seeing the officer whose gun she had taken put her in handcuffs. Anyone who was anyone knew it was a criminal offense to steal a police officer’s sidearm with the intent to use it. The heroine suppressed a chuckle that tickled her throat.

How was the little liar going to weasel her way out of that one?

Ladybug turned to the clamouring media shouting for her attention, demanding answers to their jockeying questions. She held up her hands to silence them.

“Everything will be explained in due time,” she told them. “For now, I ask that you give him some space, let Adrien recover from this ordeal. He and I will make statements at a later date. Thank you.”

It seemed to be enough for the reporters who, after scribbling notes or placing quick phone calls, began to disperse.

A quick flick of her yo-yo and Ladybug launched herself to the rooftops, heading home after such a long week. She took a longer route, ensuring no one was following her, and then dropped lightly into an alleyway across the street from the bakery. 

Tikki flew into her hands once her transformation dropped. The little being watched her Chosen glance at the bakery, her teeth worrying at her bottom lip. She knew the girl wasn’t worried about going home. She had a different worry in mind.

“I’m sure Adrien will be fine, Marinette.”

“I know, but I can’t help but feel it was wrong not to have stayed with him.”

“Alya, Nino and Luka will make sure to watch over him. You basically told Alya everything she needed to know to protect him from his Father. She is very protective of her friends.”

“Yeah, that’s a small comfort at least.” She paused a moment. “I feel bad for Luka. I’m going to have to tell him that I choose Adrien.”

“He’ll understand,” the little kwami smiled gently. “People like him never stay alone for very long anyway.”

“I hope he does find someone who makes him happy.”

“He will. Have faith.”

Marinette nodded and opened her purse for Tikki to hide in. Taking a final bracing breath for the onslaught of hugs and questions to come, the girl crossed the street for home.

* * *

Four days.

It took the remainder of the week plus the weekend before anyone heard from Adrien Agreste again.

Nino’s occasional texts to check on his best friend went unanswered.

Nothing was posted in the school chat room from the model.

Even Ladybug couldn’t get any news, each time she swung by on her patrol she found the blinds to his room shut tight. And Chat Noir didn’t show up for his nightly rounds.

Marinette knew he had a lot to process if Plagg had told him anything of what had happened. She had fully resigned herself to the fact that it would be very long time before Adrien would return to the school, or even patrols as Chat Noir.

So, as she walked up to greet Alya that morning, she was a little surprised to see a familiar sedan drive up to the curb. The large Agreste bodyguard stepped out from the driver’s seat, giving the gathered students a cursory glance, before opening the backdoor.

And out stepped Adrien Agreste.

He barely took two steps before Nino was on him, wrapping him in the tightest welcome back hug a best friend could give.

“To be a fly on the wall during the talks be must have had with his Father,” Alya mused.

“Yeah, they must have been something.”

“Hey, you ever going to tell me what it was like being Chat Blanc’s captive?”

“I was never his captive, Alya. He just wanted to protect me. It’s that feeling that akumatized him, he couldn’t protect himself from his Father, but he was going to protect me. Could easily have been you.”

Alya chuckled. “I highly doubt that.” Her phone suddenly pinged, calling her attention to a message now scrawled across the screen. “First period’s been cancelled. Seems Monsieur Terrault caught the flu this morning.”

“Poor man, he was so hoping to beat his record of more than two months without catching something.”

“He hasn’t caught an akuma yet, so that’s something.”

“Oh, Adrien!” a voice sing-songed loudly from down the sidewalk.

Both girls winced at the sound, at the false notes it hit all around while trying to sound sweet and innocent.

“I thought she wasn’t coming back for another week,” Marinette hissed at the sight of Lila Rossi all but skipping up to the school.

“She must have spun a really impressive lie to her Mom to be let off early. That or her Mom doesn’t know the extent of things… yet.”

Since her detainment by the police for stealing and attempting to use an officer’s sidearm, Lila’s Mother had pulled her from the school in grounding. She had been forbidden from using any social media, making any calls, sending any emails, or socializing with anyone while not in the presence of her Mother. Rumor had it all her devices had been taken away to ensure this.

It was never a good thing for a diplomat for their children to be caught in a legal mess.

And taking an officer’s gun was no different than if Lila had actually used it.

Marinette was a little surprised the woman and her Daughter had been allowed to stay in France instead of being expelled. She had to admit, diplomatic issues were never going to be one of her fortes, and no doubt there was still a lot more that needed to be done to have a diplomat expelled.

“Um, hi, Marinette,” someone greeted behind her just as she saw the Agreste bodyguard form a rather imposing wall to keep Lila away from Adrien.

The baker’s girl turned and blinked in surprise.

“Oh… um, hi, Luka.”

Alya smirked almost evilly. “I’ll go say hi to Sunshine and leave you two alone.”

Before Marinette could stop her, the other girl jogged off. She thought she saw a look of dejection cross Adrien’s face when he saw who she was standing with. She felt her heart give a painful beat at that.

“So, I was hoping we could get a chance to talk, after everything that happened lately,” Luka began, a hopeful lilt to his voice.

“Um, talk…” She turned to face him again. “About what?”

“Well… all of this got me thinking about things lately… about you.”

Her stomach clenched. _Oh, no…_

“And, it made me realize… well, you’re an amazing girl, Marinette. So talented and strong and brave. And I really admire that.”

“Luka…”

“I hear such amazing music from you, a song that kind of just wraps around you, all warm and exciting. So, I was wondering if, maybe, I could help you hear my song.”

“Your song…”

“Um, yeah, so we can try to get them to match up.” He rubbed the back of his neck almost nervously. “It was all so much easier having this conversation in my head. But I thought a lot about this and… well… I would hope… What I’m trying to ask is, will you be my girlfriend?”

And there it was.

She had wanted to hear that question, just not from him anymore.

There had been a time when she had entertained the idea of going out with the older teen, of letting herself try to forget a certain blond model she no longer believed would ever return her affections.

But this whole incident with Chat Blanc made her see Adrien had always been with her, if sometimes clad in magical black leather.

She closed his eyes and heaved a heavy breath. “I’m… I’m sorry, Luka.”

She couldn’t look at him, didn’t want to see his shattering heart reflected on his face or in his eyes.

“You still love him, even after all this?” he questioned after what seemed like a long silence.

“I love him more, because of all this,” she freely admitted.

Luka looked at her for a long moment, listening to her heart-song calling out to the Agreste teen. He should have known, should have heeded the fact that her song was not in tune with his own.

She was dancing to a different song, and his music didn’t work in that dance.

He huffed softly with a tiny smile. “I had to give it a shot. I hope he makes you happy, Marinette.”

There was no recrimination, no accusations in his voice.

“You’ll find someone, too, Luka. I have faith that the girl you’ll find, she’ll make you very happy.”

He gripped her chin to force her to actually look at him. He was smiling, albeit a bit sadly.

“I just wish it could have been you, angel.”

A light brush of his finger to her cheek and then Luka turned to walk away.

Marinette just stood there for what felt like an eternity, long after Luka disappeared down another street. 

She hurt him. 

He had failed to hide it convincingly. 

She had hurt him by not returning his feelings for her. It’s not that she didn’t like him, she did. He was a calming influence and quite creative in his own right. 

But it was just too hard to see him as a romantic interest. 

At Alya’s suggestion once, she had tried to replace Adrien with Luka in all her thoughts and dreams.

And failed.

It had merely made the Agreste teen all that more prominent in her mind.

What was the old saying? The heart wants what the heart wants.

So why did it hurt so much to turn someone down?

The only consolation in all this was Hawk Moth was currently too injured from his encounter with Chat Blanc to try anything right now.

“So, what did he say?” Alya’s voice intruded into her thoughts.

Marinette huffed a small smile. Leave it to the reporter in her friend to start demanding details even when it didn’t involve her.

“He wanted to ask me out.”

“And you said…?”

“I told him no.”

“What? Why?”

Marinette frowned at her as she turned towards the school. “You know why,” and she began climbing the stone steps.

“He could always be Plan B if things don’t work out.”

“It wouldn’t be fair to just string him along like that.”

“I guess… but aren’t you stringing yourself along waiting for Adrien?”

She shook her head. “I’m stringing myself, maybe, but at least I have no one to blame but me.”

They joined Nino and Adrien already standing at the top of the stairs, waiting for them. Marinette glanced back and almost laughed. The Agreste bodyguard looked as if he was playing a game of _keep-away_ with Lila, blocking her path with surprisingly more agility than she thought possible for such a large man. As intimidating as he was, the man truly had Adrien’s best interests at heart.

She turned to the boy in question, finding him fidgeting nervously with the strap of his bag, looking every bit like a scared kitten trying to decide to stay or bolt, casting furtive glances at her.

“How are you feeling, Adrien?” she questioned, opening the conversation.

She blinked at herself when she noticed her stutter was non-existent.

He huffed a small laugh, his shoulders relaxing. “I’m the one who should be asking you that, seeing everything that happened in the last week.”

Marinette smiled at him. “Everyone’s been so worried about me, so let me be worried about you. Really, how are you?”

“Well, I was hoping we could get a chance to talk about it all, and seeing as we now have a spare period…”

“Um… sure.” She risked a glance at Alya and Nino and bit her lip from a thought. “The quiet room in the library?” When he gave a confused stare. “We can talk there without Alya listening in and offering unsolicited advice on things that have nothing to do with her.”

“Hey, I…” but Alya stopped in realization. “Oh,” and her shoulders dropped.

Nino laughed at his girlfriend. “Dudette is right, Babe. You have a tendency to snoop and get your nose into things you really shouldn’t.”

Alya curled onto herself with a sheepish grin of apology.

Moments after Marinette and Adrien left, Lila came jogging up to Alya and Nino, a huff directed back at the bodyguard currently re-taking his seat in the sedan and driving off.

“Having trouble with Gorilla?” Nino posed, unable to hide the slight glee in his tone.

If Lila caught it, she chose to ignore it. 

“I swear, he probably has a mental issue or something,” she replied indignantly. “No matter how many times I repeated that I needed to speak with Adrien about our next photoshoot together, that man would just block my way. I might just have to report him to Mister Agreste.”

Alya fought to keep her skeptical eyebrow from shooting up. “Your next photoshoot with Adrien?”

The Rossi girl smiled brightly. “Oh, yes! Mister Agreste loved our last set together so much that he set up some time this weekend. Unfortunately, my computer crashed, and I lost the email with the details of when and where. Isn’t that just horrible?”

“So, why didn’t you email Nathalie?”

“I did, but for some reason my emails keep getting bounced back. I even tried Mister Agreste directly, but I get the same thing.”

Nino’s brows furrowed, unable to mask his disbelief. “You have Gabriel Agreste’s email?”

“Of course!” she smiled. “He was so impressed with my look and style that he insisted I have a direct line to him. I think he just wants to make sure I don’t start working for one of those other fashion houses trying to court me. There are just so many that want me to model for their brand, and the money offers are borderline obscene! But I am loyal to Agreste Design.” She made a point of looking around curiously. “Where did Adrien go? I really need to talk to him about our next set.”

“Not happening, Rossi,” Alya countered, a little crisper than she had wanted to respond. “Adrien is talking with Marinette right now and they don’t need anyone disturbing them.”

Lila seemed just a little too surprised to be genuine. “Oh, I would have thought she would avoid him now after he kidnapped her. That must have been so traumatizing for her, being taken hostage by an akuma, even if it was Adrien. I wouldn’t be surprised if she tried to back out of her duties as class president because of it. If she’s too proud to do that, maybe we should all suggest it, you know, for her mental health and all. What do you think they’re talking about?”

An evil smirk almost turned up the reporter’s lips. “I don’t know, something about why he took her probably, and why exactly he felt the need to protect her so preciously. Luka told us how Adrien was just so set on not letting anyone near her. Chat Blanc had been ready to rip off Luka’s face had Mari not held Chat Blanc back and then told Luka to leave. In fact, according to Luka, he looked positively possessive of our Mari and making sure she was safe.”

Nino heard the teasing lilt in Alya’s voice, noting the small twitch of annoyance at the corner of Lila’s eye, and understood. “Yeah, I mean, before all this, my boy was starting to talk about Mari a lot, you know. It was little things to start with: a praise here, an appreciation there. I really don’t know what he was telling you, Lila, but to hear him talk to me about Mari, well, it really sounded like he was starting to really like her and was just working himself up to try to ask her out.”

Alya smirked, watching the girl with them trying not to frown. “This is true. Right now, he could be apologizing for his akumatized state, since that’s the kind of sweetheart he is, always taking the blame when it’s not his, and he might just segue into asking her out. Now that would be so awesome!”

Lila seemed to gulp. “What… what about Luka?”

“What about Luka? Oh, right, you didn’t see this little talk Mari and Luka just had a few minutes ago, since you were trying to crawl over the Gorilla. Seems Luka was asking her out, but Mari turned him down. Seems, after all this, she’s still very much hooked on Adrien.”

Lila blinked, but quickly recovered to give a dismissive wave of her hand. “Oh, but I’m sure that’s not why Adrien is talking to her. He’s probably trying to let her down easy, away from everyone so she won’t make a scene. I mean, he is _my_ boyfriend after all.”

“So you say,” Nino muttered.

“Didn’t you know? We’ve been secretly dating all these months, his idea to keep it secret since he didn’t want Marinette or the paparazzi to hear about it just yet. He’s just so sweet, he probably wants to spare her the public humiliation. He could be telling her about how he’s so madly in love with me, that photo from over a week ago is more than enough proof. Or how she should move on, maybe go after Luka again…”

“Or they could be talking about the fact that you almost shot him four days ago when Ladybug cured him.”

Lila gasped, the dramatics almost over-inflated. “I swear, I didn’t know it was Adrien! Had I known, I wouldn’t have been so worried about protecting all those gathered people. Nathalie kept telling me he was at a photoshoot in a secret location. I would never hurt my sweet Adrien.”

Alya’s eyebrow shot up this time. “ _Your_ sweet Adrien.”

“Oh, yes. And we have a date this weekend.”

“I thought you had a photoshoot this weekend?”

“We do, the date is for afterwards.”

“And how did you plan this date since you haven’t been able to talk to my boy or anyone else in that house?” Nino asked, skepticism clear in his voice. “You know, since he was akumatized for over a week and then incommunicado the last four days?”

Lila laughed a little nervously, but deflected the last part of the question. “Oh, our date was planned a long time ago, before this whole mess with Hawk Moth,” she smiled innocently. “We’re going to the Jagged Stone concert in Germany, flying out on Gabriel Agreste’s private jet, and then we’re flying out to New York for Sunday Brunch and some shopping. Now, if you’ll excuse me…” and she walked away with a coy wave.

“Wow, she’s slick.”

“As an oil spill,” Alya near growled. “Then we’ll just have to be slicker.”

* * *

Adrien closed the door to the quiet room, his hand hesitating over the lock for a moment. There were just too many people in this school who could or would try to interrupt this conversation. And he really needed to have this talk with Marinette. 

Alya was one, despite her assurances to stay away. She was far too curious a nature, making her a dogged reporter, but it could make her annoying and nosey if she pushed too much.

Chloé would be hunting for him if the number of texts he got from her was any indication. Despite her brash and often bullying nature to those around her, she cared. 

He couldn’t fault her for that, but it wasn’t needed at that moment.

And he knew Lila was on the prowl. 

She had texted constantly since his initial akumatization, unaware of what had happened to him. And had bombarded his email account and his voice messages. Since she had partly been the cause of everything, he had just deleted everything without reading or listening. He had even convinced Nathalie to block the girl’s accounts from his own accounts. It actually hadn’t taken much convincing; he had just approached the assistant about it and by the end of the day all communications from the Rossi girl had blissfully stopped.

But he couldn’t have her interrupting this, and he knew she would try if she found them.

So, he locked the door.

“Now, honestly, how are you feeling?” Marinette questioned, surprising him a little.

He had to think about it for a beat. 

Everyone around him had been so careful, walking on eggshells about conversation topics to have or avoid. Everyone at the house hadn’t even dared to breathe a word about the akumatization. Except for Plagg, no one asked him how he felt. Everyone, even on the news, seemed more concerned about the girl currently with him, wondering how she was dealing with everything.

So to finally be asked…

“Honestly?... I don’t know. How am I supposed to feel?” He crossed the room and sank heavily into one of the oversized beanbags on the floor. “Everything is so messed up right now, I’m not sure what to feel... Sad? Angry? Scared? Maybe a bit vengeful?”

Marinette sat in the beanbag next to his, folding into it far more elegantly. “Any of those feelings, or a combination of, would be about right.” She smirked, lightly poking his arm. “Except that last one, that’s just not you.”

He huffed a tiny smile. “With everything, it could be. It’s just so… surreal. I was akumatized. Me! And I get flashes now and then of how it was. Running the rooftops. Scaring civilians that got too close...” He looked at her then. “I didn’t scare you, did I? Or hurt you?” and he hesitantly ghosted his fingers over the remnant of the bruise on her forehead.

“No, you were the perfect gentleman, um, gentle-cat. You kept saying you needed to protect me, to keep me safe. And you did save me from two guys who had less than pleasant intentions after I left Alya’s that first night.”

“And then I kidnapped you, kept you from going back home and to family for over a week. What does that say about me?”

“That you thought I was safer with you than anyone else anywhere in the city. Not far from the truth, really. At that moment, no one in the city was more powerful than you so no one could do anything to hurt me.”

“But I kept you from your family.”

“You didn’t really do anything to stop me from leaving. I could have left anytime. I stayed all on my own because I knew you needed my help. Think back, Luka showed up to try to take me home, but I told him to leave since I was staying right there with you. I didn’t want to leave.”

He looked away then, absently plucking at his jeans. “I saw you talking to Luka a little earlier.”

She looked down at her hands. “Yeah.”

“Can… can I ask what he wanted? I mean, you don’t have to tell me, it’s really none of my business. You know what, never mind, forget I asked.”

Inwardly, she felt it was endearing to hear him ask so timidly, half knowing she could just tell him it wasn’t his business. At that thought she realized this was no doubt how Gabriel Agreste had treated his Son his entire life.

Marinette was decided.

No secrets.

“He wanted to ask me to be his girlfriend,” she admitted.

He blinked, not daring to look up just yet. “Oh.”

Marinette had to fight with the urge to run a reassuring hand through his hair at the dejected look he was sporting. 

Did he really have feelings for her? 

Or was she seeing something she had hoped to see?

“I told him no,” she opted to respond instead, absently twisting her fingers together to keep them busy.

His head snapped up at her in surprise. “What? Why? I thought you liked him.”

She sunk a little in her seat. “I do… just not in that way. I’m mean, he’s really nice and all, and a great musician and listener. He’s a calming influence, but I don’t need calm or being zen, I can do that on my own. I need a compliment, not someone like me. I just can’t see myself with him. He’s not the one.”

Adrien looked down at his hands, part of him suddenly confused. He knew she liked – loved – someone, everyone around them had hinted as much. The class often seemed to buzz when the topic of Marinette’s love interest came up. He was sure it had to be Luka now since Chat Noir had turned her down a few months before. She had just looked so comfortable around him all the time.

“Don’t suppose you talked to your Father?” he heard her timid question.

He wanted to growl. “He doesn’t deserve the title _Father_.”

“Because he caused you to be akumatized?” came her careful question. “Or because he’s Hawk Moth?”

His expression was both shocked and terrified when his head snapped up to face her. 

But there was none of the recrimination or horror he had expected to see in all the scenarios he had run through his mind the last four days, of how he was going to explain this to anyone in his small circle of friends. 

She was just so calm.

“You know?”

“I know. He tried to use me as bait to get you back and I saw. He was testing out a new kind of akuma and his new white akuma wasn’t turning out as gloriously as he had hoped, or maybe it was all because of you. For someone who was akumatized, I have to admit, you were very strong, and maybe a little stubborn, to always resist him like you did.”

“I think, deep down, part of me knew it was him. I just didn’t want to believe it. I was afraid to believe it, I think. That he could ever do that to Paris, or even to me… for what? To get two Miraculous gems that might or might not bring back my Mother? Basically, sacrifice me and an entire city for her? She’s dead, why can’t he just leave her in peace?”

“Grief makes people do stupid and crazy things.”

“Doesn’t make it right.”

“Never said it does.”

He sighed heavily before looking at her almost critically.

“What?” she blinked.

“Just wondering… Usually you’re a nervous mess around me.”

She almost laughed at that. “Understatement of the decade.”

“So, what changed?”

She smirked ruefully. “Well, I did just spend an entire week as your ward. That tends to take the nerve out of you.”

“Chat Blanc’s ward,” he corrected.

“It was still you, deep down. You fought off the akuma enough to stay you, if not with a bit more feline tendencies than I was used to seeing from you.” Her smile became a little coy. “But Chat Blanc was still my Kitty.”

He cocked his head at that in confusion, blinking at her blankly. 

There was an inside joke somewhere in that comment.

She smirked at that. “How much did Plagg explain to you about that last week?”

“Not as much as you’d think, he can be stingy with information—” and he suddenly froze, realizing his mistake too late, a hand slapping down on his cackling kwami hidden in his shirt. 

He had let slip about his knowledge of the kwami, about his kwami.

And then something struck him and he almost frowned. “How do you know about Plagg?”

She merely smiled gently. “I did say I spent an entire week as your ward. Plagg showed himself within the first few minutes, almost acting like you moral compass, if you can believe it.”

“Hey!” the kwami complained. “I happen to have an excellent sense of morality. We kwami practically invented it, you know.”

“Yet you have adhered to it rather loosely,” Marinette shot back. Then, looking back to Adrien, “And he and I have had dealings from time to time in the past in your absence.”

“Did… did he tell you…?”

“That you’re Chat Noir? No.”

He frowned in confusion. “Then how…?”

She pulled her purse up from her hip, holding it up to him as she opened it. “You’re not the only one with a kwami, Kitty.”

He stared at the little being staring up at him, waving happily.

A little red being.

With bright blue eyes.

And a large black spot on its forehead.

Adrien felt his brain begin to fry, threatening to shut down and maybe reboot if he was that lucky. Marinette put her purse aside after Plagg dove inside, giving the kwami some time alone after the last week and four days. Adrien’s eyes were fixed on the purse for the longest time, trying to come to terms with what he had just seen.

It couldn’t be…

Fragile mess of a Marinette…

Strong class president of a Marinette…

His cute, adorable classmate…

The girl who had been progressively confusing his feelings all this time…

He met her patient gaze.

“Ladybug?”

Her smile widened just slightly. “Hi, Kitty.”

And, for the longest time, he just stared at her.

A nervous giggle escaped her lips after a moment. “Well? Say something, you’re starting to give me a complex,” and she abruptly squeaked when he lunged at her.

Somehow, he got them rearranged on her beanbag so they reclined comfortably, she was in his lap while he was practically wrapped around her, his face buried on her shoulder. She laughed at him softly, carding her fingers through his hair in a gentle scratch. He cuddled her close, never wanting to let her go.

“All this time,” he muttered into the crook of her neck, soothed by the feel of her fingers and the scent of bread and pastries that seemed to permeate her. “You were in my class. You were sitting behind me this whole time. My everyday Ladybug was really my Ladybug. To think, I was still trying to protect my partner, My Lady, without even knowing it was you.”

“Part of you knew, I think.” She smoothed her cheek over his forehead. “It tore me apart to let you go to the hospital without me when I knew your Father might be showing up.”

He huffed. “He never did show up.”

“Mm, that was a possibility considering the thrashing you gave him in that last fight.”

He pulled back to look at her. “I beat him up?”

She smirked. “And how! Since Ladybug wasn’t around, there was no Miraculous Cure to fix his wounds. I imagine he’s trying to hide five pretty deep slashes across his chest.”

Adrien blinked. “I did that? Wow! That explains why he’s been a little stiff… well… stiffer lately.” He snuggled back against Marinette, gently nosing the edge of her jaw, breathing in deep of the scent of the bakery that clung to her skin. “I can’t help but feel a little bit satisfied that I beat the tar out of him. There’s a kind of poetic justice there.”

She tittered softly. “He’ll definitely think twice about akumatizing his own Son again.”

An undignified snort was his only response.

“How is everything at home though?” she pressed. “I don’t expect any of this has changed things much.”

Adrien signed heavily. “Not so that anyone on the outside would notice, no. I noticed. He’s more… contrite. I can see why now, though. When I got home, he was at the top of those damned stairs and I was so sure he was going to start dishing out a new set of rules and punishments because I let myself be weak and got akumatized. I could already hear his voice saying _an Agreste has to be strong_. Instead, he apologized.”

“Really?”

“Just like that. He said he was wrong for what he did to me, both for akumatizing me and treating me the way he had all those years. He had been led to believe things from certain individuals that this was all in my best interests, that the restrictions he imposed were needed to ensure I wouldn’t be an embarrassment to the Agreste name.”

“You are not an embarrassment,” she assured firmly. “If anything, he’s the one who’s an embarrassment to the human race. The things he’s put you through… Had I known that was your life when Chat Noir you complained about your civilian life while we were on patrol…”

She tightened her arms around him, scratching intricate patterns against his scalp.

He sighed blissfully, enjoying the attention for a moment. “Can I ask you something, My Lady?”

“Of course.”

“Well…” He sat up slightly. “You’ve always said there was someone you loved, and that was the reason you were turning down Chat. I thought it was Luka, but you just told him no.”

She smirked, knowing his train of thought. “You want to know who I love?”

“I mean, no pressure or anything. If you don’t want to tell me…”

Marinette smiled softly, taking his hands to stop him from babbling himself out of the question. “The boy I fell in love with gave me his umbrella on his first day of school after he apologized for a misunderstanding we had.”

The confusion written on his face made Adrien look so painfully adorable. Green eyes blinked quickly, trying to make sense of what she had just told him. 

He had given her an umbrella. 

They had a misunderstanding on his first day of school.

Did this mean…?

A heavy sigh sounded from the girl’s purse. “For the love of… She means you, you idiot!” Plagg yelled as Tikki giggled.

“Me? Really?” 

His voice had gone high pitched in surprise.

Marinette nodded, trying not to laugh.

His expression became puzzled. “Wait, so all this time, you’ve been rejecting me… for me?”

This time she did laugh. “I think you and I have a lot to talk about, Kitty.”

* * *

Lila scoured every inch of the school she could access, on a singular mission to find where Adrien and Marinette had sequestered themselves to talk. Leaving those two alone together was dangerous. Lila vividly remembered the train trip to London when Marinette had fallen asleep on his shoulder and he promptly fell asleep on Marinette.

They were far too comfortable with each other then.

She would not have them get any more comfortable now.

It didn’t matter what Gabriel Agreste said or that he decided she was no longer wanted at the manor or during photoshoots. If she could make Adrien love her, the old man would have no choice but to allow her back into the fold.

But making Adrien love her would be difficult if she couldn’t find him.

Lila entered the library, taking a quick glance at her phone to ensure she could make it to her next class in time.

Fifteen minutes to go.

Enough time to check the study rooms and more private corners before heading to the next class, and hope to have some time with Adrien during the rest of the day. He was too much of a softy to completely ignore her, regardless of what his Father told him.

The quieter corners of the library were empty, as were the first two of the study rooms she checked by bursting into each as if nothing was.

It was the third room that nearly made her shriek.

Through the narrow window in the door, Lila spied the targets of her search. They were cuddled warmly together on one of the beanbag chairs, talking softly about something that even pressing her ear to the door, Lila couldn’t make out their conversation. 

Damn the school for sound-proofing these rooms. 

Yes, it made it easier for students to study or decompress after a test, but it made her spying all that much more difficult.

She tried the doorknob as carefully and quietly as she could, intending to burst in if they had been careless enough to leave it unlocked.

They weren’t careless.

Part of her wanted to start pounding on the door to break them apart from the cozy scene, but then she would have to come up with a plausible explanation to convince these two skeptics as to why she needed access to the room they happened to be in.

Especially since there were others currently empty.

So, she decided to watch.

Rossi saw Marinette say something to Adrien and he snuggled closer against her as if in protest. It looked like she laughed as she reached for her purse, pulling out her phone to show him the screen. Adrien pouted in response, slowly beginning to disentangle himself from the baker’s girl and sitting up. They spoke for a moment more, and then the boy got to his feet, pulling the girl up afterwards.

Lila felt her ire rise by another notch when he pulled Marinette close to nuzzle the crook of her neck, causing this one to giggle and squirm as if tickled.

That was new for them… and dangerous to Lila’s plans.

He couldn’t be falling for the girl now. Lila still had plans to fulfill and he was a very needed cog to her success.

The Italian girl ducked out of sight as the pair approached the door, hiding just around a corner to still be able to hear and clandestinely watch them.

“So, any plans on what you’re going to do now?” she heard Marinette question.

“For now, I think I’ll let him stew about what I might do,” Adrien replied, making a point to hook her arm through his to keep her at his side as they walked. “He’s been doing that to me for as long as I can remember. Let’s see how much he likes it for a change.”

Lila kept a discrete distance, masterfully drawing no attention to herself.

Marinette huffed softly. “He deserves a lot worse.”

“Oh, this isn’t even the tip of how much I plan to make him suffer. I’ve had the last four days to dream up a few things and my _moral compass_ was a big help.”

“Call me before you set anything into motion, I want to record it so we can watch it over and over again.”

Adrien laughed at the girl’s giddiness and Lila felt something tickle her heart. 

His laughter truly was a glorious sound.

But who were they talking about?

Who was going to be the recipient of their wrath and why did that make them both happy at the prospects?

She stayed close to the class’s windows to see and hear inside as the pair walked in. At the front of the class, Lila spied Alya seated next to Nino, both teens engaged in a conversation of their own involving something on Alya’s phone. No doubt some news about Ladybug that the girl would use on her blog. Lila would have to start a new rumour about the heroine to discredit her somehow, or insert herself as a needed helper to the Heroes of Paris.

“Oh, hey, Dudes!” Nino greeted cheerily. “Hope you don’t mind if Alya sits with me today?”

“No problem, Nino,” Adrien replied, glancing at Marinette. “I was hoping we could switch anyway.”

Lila watched Dupain-Cheng take her regular seat with the Agreste teen now at her side, the boy sitting closer to her than was strictly necessary. 

Rossi frowned.

Except for the Lahiffe boy, Adrien had always kept a very generous distance from anyone who sat next to him. This even included Chloé. And the distance he kept from Lila herself had forced her more than once to scoot closer.

But he was almost shoulder to shoulder with Marinette and willingly.

“You two seem chummy,” Alya cooed knowingly. “Good talk?”

“Needed talk,” Marinette replied.

“Pray, do tell,” she urged, leaning a cheek to her hand in eager anticipation.

Lila grinned. 

Leave it to Alya to get right to the point of something new without realizing how intrusive she was being.

Adrien and Marinette shared a look before smiling at the reporter.

“No,” they answered as one.

Nino barked in laughter and Alya pouted, unable to stop the slight smirk tugging the corners of her lips.

Lila decided that was good moment to enter the class. It was obvious whatever the pair had talked about would be kept private for the time being. 

Schooling her expression to one of sweet ignorance to anything she had witnessed and heard, putting on a bright smile, Rossi sauntered into the classroom as if nothing was. She offered a bubbly greeting to the entire room, one returned by all but the four at the front of the class. She chose to ignore that snub as she moved to the central aisle to make her way to the back of the class.

Mildly she noted how Marinette kept her bag tucked at her feet with her purse between her and Adrien.

Smart move.

It mitigated anything Lila might have tried to do with either one of those bags. 

A claim of a personal item suddenly going missing after that item was surreptitiously placed in a bag was often a good way to knock a reputation down by a few notches. Theft was always frowned on. Marinette would have to leave these bags unattended and someplace Lila could get to for that scenario to happen.

And the school had fixed the locks on all the lockers since the last time Lila had accused and recanted her claim of theft against Marinette.

“Is something wrong, Lila?” Rose’s voice cut through her scheming suddenly.

The girl waved off the petit blonde with a smile, her mind already forming a plan on how to use the class’s desire to be helpful to anyone and everyone. 

“Oh, it’s nothing to bother anyone with.”

“No, really, it looked like it was something important.”

“Well…” She cast a quick glance to Marinette and Adrien, schooling her expression to look dejected. “I just thought he loved me, that’s all.”

Juleka cocked her head. “Who?”

“Adrien. I mean, all the dates we went on, all the texts…” She congratulated herself for the solitary tear that trailed down her cheek. “I guess it didn’t mean as much to him as it did to me.”

“Did he break up with you?” Rose queried.

“He didn’t say anything, but…”

She pointed to where Adrien was currently wrapped around Marinette, an enchanted smile on his face at the blushing mess in his arms.

Lila sniffed for added effect. “His bodyguard wouldn’t even let me near him this morning when he arrived. It’s as if he suddenly decided I wasn’t important to him anymore.”

Juleka frowned slightly. “Wait, when did you and Adrien begin dating?”

“Oh, months ago now. When I first arrived in Paris. We just had so much in common that we hit it off right away. Why?”

“You mean before he went out with Kagami Tsurugi?”

Lila felt a warning chill race up her spine. “Wh-Who?”

“Right, Kagami!” Rose beamed. “You haven’t met her since she doesn’t go to our school. She’s in Adrien’s fencing class. Juleka mentioned her when we were mobilizing the class to help look for Chat Blanc last week, remember?”

“She’s in his fencing class?” Rossi repeated slowly, absorbing this information slower than she would have liked.

Juleka nodded. “Comes from a long line of champion fencers. Her Grandfather has held the title of World Champion for decades now, unbeaten save by Kagami’s own blind Mother.”

“He asked her out on a date,” Rose continued. “But being a little clueless of what to do, he asked Marinette for help and they all ended up going skating, with Luka too. At the time we tried to make plans to help break them up, because we wanted to help Marinette, but Marinette convinced us to back down. Except maybe Alya since she can be a little stubborn.”

Lila’s mind scrambled to come up with something. “O-oh! That Kagami!” she faked. “Yes, Adrien told me all about her. He said they never really dated, she was just a friend who was willing to hang out with him who didn’t care about his name or social status.”

Rose blinked innocently. “Really? But I thought—”

“No, up until now he was madly in love with me. I mean, you all saw the picture, right? Of us in bed?”

From one row up, Alix snorted. “We saw you in the bed, but there was no sign of anyone else there with you.”

Lila allowed herself a small frown. “It was taken from his phone and in his room.”

Alix turned and glared at her. “You really have no idea about the modelling world, do you?”

Rossi made an insulted sound of disbelief. “And you do?”

“Obviously more than you. Which is saying a lot, all things considered.” 

“What does modelling have to do with this?”

She rounded out of her seat to plunk her tiny frame down in the seat next to Lila. “I know for a fact, that day, Adrien wasn’t even at home.”

The chill returned. “O-oh? And how are you so sure?”

Alix was going to reply, but a voice to her left beat her to it.

“Because he was at the Louvre’s Richelieu wing for a fashion shoot amongst the sculptures,” Nathaniel stated, never looking up from the sketch he was currently working on. 

Alix merely held a hand out to him to say that was the response she was also going to give, smiling almost evilly.

Lila’s frown deepened. “And why should we believe you?”

The smirk widened on the petite skater’s lips. “My Father is the curators for the Egyptian Antiquities in the Sully wing. Nate and I were hanging out in the section for seventeenth- and eighteenth-century _objets d’art_ so he could sketch a few of them out for reference, when my Dad came in to tell us not to go to the Richelieu wing. Turns out a whole slew of Agreste lackies had permission to shut it down for a glam piece. No phones allowed for the duration to keep it hush-hush and secret.”

“The shoot was ten hours long that day,” Nathaniel continued. He looked up to where Adrien was sitting. “Never knew how hard he had it doing some of those sets.”

Lila remembered that now. She had heard some of the makeup artists from her last set with Adrien buzzing about a new line that was going to be showcased and how the shoot was going to be glam-meets-classic. She had wondered why she hadn’t been invited to model for that set, but when it had offered her a perfect opportunity to insert herself into Adrien’s life, she hadn’t given it a second thought.

In hind-sight, maybe she should have.

“So, you see, Lila,” Alix grinned. “There is no way you could have snogged blondie over there like you say you did… unless it was a clone… or Felix… left behind in a quasi-empty house… for you to boink with dear old Dad in the other room since the man never leaves Agreste Manor.”

Nathaniel traced a long curving line on the page. “Didn’t I see a retraction in those online gossip magazines about that photo? Something about Agreste’s legal team calling it a fake with the same explanation we just gave?”

Alix looked to be enjoying herself far too much, especially since Nathaniel was joining in with his tailored deadpan delivery of his parts to this tale.

“That’s true! Something about a possible number of charges against whoever didn’t remove the picture from their publications or websites, calling it tantamount to child porn.”

“Also, the promise of charges against the one who broke into the Agreste Manor and took that photo.”

Lila sunk a little in her seat.

She hadn’t yet been approached by any police or legal representatives about that picture.

“Well, now you’re just trying to scare me,” she scoffed, hoping to divert attention away. “If they were going to charge me, wouldn’t they have done it by now?”

“Not necessarily,” Juleka answered plainly. “I watch that show from the States, _First Forty-Eight_. It’s a reality show about police criminal procedures. If their system is anything even remotely similar to ours, the police are probably collecting enough evidence so when they do end up charging someone, you or someone else, the charge will stick.”

The Kubdel girl clapped her hands together as if praying, imploring towards the ceiling almost in desperation. “Please… Please! Let me be there when that happens.”

Lila scowled at the four of them. “You’re all just so mean! Go away!” and she turned her nose up to them in disdain.

Nathaniel went back to his sketching as if nothing was.

Juleka and Rose merely shrugged to each other and turned in their seats to face the front of the class.

Alix merely smiled devilishly, casually placing her hands behind her head as she sauntered back to her seat, an air of victory surrounding her.

Rossi counted to five after this last one sat down, then glared at the back of Marinette’s head. The threat of legal ramifications aside, she still had to plan a way to get the baker’s girl away from the teen model. Her plans for the future hinged on being at his side, of having the world linking her with him.

She pursed her lips at the prospects of being charged with a crime.

That was definitely something that had never happened to her before. Her Mother had been convincing enough to the _gendarmerie_ for that gun incident a few days ago, getting her off on a warning only.

She had come close in Italy so many times before, but she had been clever then and nothing could be traced back to her.

This last photo she took unfortunately could be traced to her, all through a simple logistical miscalculation on her part.

The trick now was figuring out a way to twist this situation in a different direction so she would be beyond blame.

It would be tricky and would require every ounce of subterfuge and deceit she had ever learned.

And she would need a target to turn this onto.

Lila had much to plan for.

And she had no idea how much time she had to get it all ready.


	6. Chapter 6

“I get the feeling you created a very tight contract with your Father about what you know,” Ladybug smiled.

Her head was pillowed on his arm as they both lounged on a rooftop in the early evening. The air was still warm, a light breeze bringing little relief to the bright heat of the day. 

It had been nearly a week since Adrien returned to school after being transformed into Chat Blanc. 

And it was nearly a week since the last akuma or amok had been unleashed onto the city.

During that time, Adrien had milked every second of his newfound freedom. Knowing his Father was Hawk Moth gave him a distinct power over the older man, driving a few points into him that his plans could be derailed at any moment.

Adrien also enjoyed the newfound closeness he shared with Marinette now that they knew each other’s Miraculous identity. He couldn’t have been more shocked and overjoyed to learn that Ladybug, his Lady, had been so close all this time. That the one girl who had started to mean so much more than a friend had always been more than a friend.

It was a blessing.

He began purring softly before he even realized it, and for once he didn’t feel embarrassed.

“Hey!” Ladybug called gently, poking his side.

“Hrrm?” he purred.

“You didn’t hear a word I said, did you?” There was no recrimination in her voice, only an amused smile.

His own smile broadened, still purring. “I am a cat who is warrrm and in the company of his most favorrrite Lady in the whole Univerrrse. I may have spaced out frrrom the contentment.”

She giggled and rolled against his side, an arm draped over his chest. “Silly Kitty.”

Curling his arm around her shoulders to keep her close, Chat Noir took a moment to enjoy how she fit against him and how warm she felt. Her petite frame felt like the most fragile thing under his arm, but he knew she could easily deadlift and throw a car in a pinch if the situation called for it. 

Terrifying strength wrapped in red latex-like material.

He nuzzled her bangs tenderly, breathing in the familiar scent that he now recognized as a magical mix of Ladybug and Marinette.

“You werrre saying something…” he prompted.

“Just wondering something.”

“Wonderrring what?”

“Well… It’s been a week now and your Father hasn’t tried anything. God knows Chloé’s riled up enough people to be akumatized, and Lila seems to be really frustrated about something these days…”

“And?”

“And, it’s just not like him to let potential akuma victims just slip by. What did you do?”

He chuckled low. “I may orrr may not have made Fatherrr agrrree to a few terrrms. If he doesn’t follow them exactly as stipulated, his little secrrret may orrr may not find its way to the worrrld media via one mass emailing.”

Ladybug sat up in surprise, gaping down at her partner. “You’re blackmailing him?”

He frowned, scrunching up his nose in distaste, his purr stopping. “That’s such a bad sounding word: blackmailing. I prefer _strategic negotiations with tangible consequences_. I even worded it that way to him since all he seems to understand are big legal sounding terms.”

“So… he akumatizes anyone and…?”

“The world medias get nice little press packages about his activities from the last year. It’s all up on an anonymous Cloud account that Max helped me set up. The only time my name shows up is when it’s mailed out.”

“Clever,” she marvelled, the smile returning to her lips.

“This also applies to that partner of his, Mayura. She creates even one amok or sentimonster at any given time and the message goes out.”

“What about their Miraculous gems?”

“Nooroo actually wants to stay with Father. I think maybe he has Stockholm syndrome, Plagg said he’d work on him. And I have no idea who’s wearing the Peacock to get her to give it up. Father is being quietly stubborn about who she is, but she has to be someone close, someone he trusts. I’m kind of inclined to say it’s Nathalie.”

“That… that makes sense, actually. There’s nothing about your family that she doesn’t know.”

“Well, if she is Mayura, she’s under the same conditions as my Father. They can’t cause any problems within the range of their Miraculous gems.”

“So, until that happens…?”

He smirked, crossing his arms behind his head in satisfaction. “You and I get to enjoy a long and much needed break from any possible akuma or amok. That the city gets to enjoy that too is just a bonus. It’s about time this city is allowed to feel again.”

“Why, Mister Agreste! How terribly dastardly of you!” she laughed, letting herself fall onto his chest to hug him.

Holding her against himself, he rolled over to pin her to her back and grinned down at her playfully. “Tell me you’re not just dying for a vacation from all this.”

She sighed a whimsical smile. “No, you’re right, I would love a vacation. With what we’ve gone through this last year, some rest and relaxation would be so worth it. Somewhere far from Paris for a little while at least. Maybe a minimum of a week…”

“I would say at least two.”

“Okay, maybe two,” she chuckled.

“Warm blue water, soft white sand…”

“No akumas, no worries…”

“Hammock naps at any time of the day…”

“Sweet drinks with little umbrellas in them…” Another sigh in dreamy bliss. “That would be fantastic.”

“Think I could convince _him_ to lend me the jet?”

“Mm, I wouldn’t push it… yet,” and they both giggled.

He gently nuzzled a spot behind her ear. “Now all we need to worry about is _her_.”

She heard the distaste in his voice, immediately knowing who he was referring to. “Lila,” she spoke in agreement. “Alya says she seems to be building some sort of campaign to get back into your Father’s good graces. Supposedly she caught her emailing up a storm from the school’s library.”

Adrien snorted softly into the crook of her neck. “It’s all in Legal’s hands now. I told him that if insists on putting her in his photo spreads with me, I will dye my hair bright green and go Goth.”

Ladybug couldn’t help but chuckle, teasing a lock of his hair. “That’s hardly a threat, you look so good in black and green, Kitty.”

“Oh, I know that.” There was exaggerated confidence in his tone. “But the style just doesn’t work for the Agreste fashion line. Father now has all her accounts blocked. Even if she comes up with a new one, the second he finds out it’s her, he has it blocked like the rest.”

A gloved hand thread through his thick hair, tracing gentle scratches from the base of his skull to his crown. The tensing muscles she had felt from him slackened while his arms tightened around her form. 

This had been their routine almost every night that week. 

They would begin with a patrol of the city, making a point to show up at the Agreste Manor to make sure Gabriel Agreste was very aware they were watching him, before choosing a random spot in the city away from prying eyes to just lounge and relax and talk.

Often, they would just end up like this, cuddled together in silence as one or the other would attempt to relax the other. 

It made it easier now, knowing each other’s identity.

As Marinette, Ladybug could see Adrien have a particularly trying day at school from media or just the other students. During school, she could offer a quick hug with a look that promised more affection during their patrol. It was often enough to chase away the gloom that surrounded him, for a little while.

As Adrien, Chat Noir saw when Marinette became overwhelmed from her overly creative mind taking on too many projects at once. He had to talk her out of two rather massive projects, the last one just earlier today, convincing her to hand them over to others considering she had very little time in her schedule. 

They later found out those two projects actually belonged to Lila who was trying to foist them specifically onto Marinette in an effort to break her.

“I’m sorry I didn’t notice how bad she had it out for you,” he muttered softly into the collar of her suit.

“Not your fault, Adrien. She was very good at making herself out to be the victim, no matter the situation.”

“I didn’t help you, though, like I said I would. I just…” He rolled to his back with a disgruntled breath. “All my life I’ve been told to not cause trouble, be meek, be seen only. All I’ve had were manga and the internet to tell me how to be socially.”

She turned to face him, a hand to his heart, but said nothing to let him continue. He absently toyed with her fingers for a moment.

“Everything I ever saw or read said to just go along with it, that eventually people like her would realize all on their own that what they were doing was wrong. I really thought her lies weren’t hurting anyone. That if we just let her be, we were preventing akumas and letting her come to some lofty inevitable conclusion. I guess none of my so-called sources on the matter ever had to deal with a true narcissistic sociopath.”

When he fell silent, she tugged at his hand. “Hey,” she whispered, pulling him to be forehead-to-forehead with her. “I forbid you from even thinking about taking the blame for all this.”

“But she hurt you, My Lady, and all because I did nothing.”

“I wouldn’t say nothing. I know you were the reason she used a lie to get me reinstated after my suspension. And I know you did your best to out her lies too, even when she twisted them on themselves to suit her. Besides, she attacks me because she sees she’s losing. And she would’ve found another way, or made you a target too if you confronted her like I did.”

“I would have been okay being a target if it got her away from you.”

“But I wouldn’t have been okay with it.” She cupped his face in her hands, thumbs light and gentle as they skimmed the bottom edge of his mask. “You put up with so much…”

“Habit.”

“Bad habit. It made you a prime target for her to use you.”

A small smile touched his lips. “I have a really big reason to stand up to her now. I have you.”

She returned the smile. “You’ve always had me, Kitty.”

“I want to make it official.”

She blinked, pulling back slightly to see the almost giddy and hopefully expression on his face.

“Official?” she questioned.

“I want to be shellfish for once. I don’t want to share you. I want the world to know that Adrien Agreste is with Marinette Dupain-Cheng, and I also want them to know Chat Noir is with Ladybug.”

“As in dating?” She couldn’t keep the squeak of surprise out of her voice.

“Dating. Going steady. Exclusive. Can… can we…?”

She felt the blush rushing over her face and up her ears as a laugh forced itself from her throat. His shocked and slightly disappointed expression forced her a little bit sober, but her utter giddiness remained.

“No, Kitty, no, I’m not laughing at you, I swear,” she laughed, cupping his cheeks. “I have just wanted to hear you say that since the first day of school.”

He brightened. “Really?”

“Really. I’ll gladly be your girlfriend. I told you, you are the boy I love.” She suddenly stopped laughing at a realization. “Oh, but we don’t actually say it, do we? Well, let me fix that.” Ladybug urged his face towards hers, lightly bumping her nose to his. “I love you, Chat Noir, my shining knight. I love you, Adrien Agreste, My Prince.”

Feline pupils dilated wide at the admission, the hint of awed tears building in his eyes.

And the term of endearment she just used…

_My Prince._

Oh, how he just adored the girl!

“My Lady…” he breathed, forcing his voice over the lump in his throat. He crushed her close, letting the tears fall, wrapping himself around her as best he could. “I love you, both of you, all of you.”

Ladybug felt her heart give a painful squeeze at how gutted he had looked at that moment. It was as if he had never heard the words, or it had been a lifetime since anyone had said anything so profound to him.

Given any chance at all, she would beat Gabriel Agreste to a bloody pulp for having treated his Son so poorly for so long.

Ever so tenderly she pushed his bangs out of his face and pressed her cheek to his forehead, fingers gently toying with the base of his cat ears.

“My perfect, perfect kitten,” she breathed, placing a light kiss just above his mask.

Chat Noir made a broken little sound, holding her tighter, and her heart gave another squeeze.

She made herself a promise then. 

She would make sure to always tell him she loved him, at the very least twice a day: the first would be the moment she saw him; and the second would be before the end of the day, either by text or in person. But she would never not tell him just how much he was loved. 

He deserved no less.

* * *

The woman looked down her nose at the teen smiling before her. She adjusted her thin glasses with a small sound of disdain.

“Wait here, someone will come speak to you shortly,” and she quickly retreated from the office, closing the door behind her.

Lila Rossi’s pleasant mask fell away and she glared at the drab pane of wood. This was not how this was supposed to work out.

She had failed the entire week to gain access to Agreste Manor despite her perfect acting skills putting on impassioned pleas to speak to Gabriel Agreste.

At school, Adrien had been glued to Dupain-Cheng’s side practically at every given second. Even during the few classes the pair didn’t share, Adrien seemed to vanish until the very start of class and be the first one to leave the moment the end of class bell rang.

It was only through sheer persistence, something Lila was not used to and found very exhausting, that she had even gained access to Agreste Design’s main office.

But for this she would be persistent.

Her future at the top of the social ladder demanded it.

She had hoped to be taken to Gabriel’s office, not this small office of some lower officer at the company. The assistant wasn’t as dragon-esque as Nathalie Sanscoeur, though it was clear she was also not used to having someone interrupt her duties. Lila made a mental note to try to win this woman with a contrite apology later once she had a chance to convince whoever this particular official was that being banned from anything tied to the Agrestes was just a tiny misunderstanding.

Lila had a script ready.

Every response possible was accounted for.

Hopefully this person held enough clout to be listened to.

She wandered the office while going over her mental notes. The room was rather spartan for an Agreste employee. Lila had always believed designers were an eccentric bunch with their workspaces a mess of papers and fabric. Much like what Alya had described Dupain-Cheng’s room as being. It was why Lila had made a point of staging her room to resemble the same in Instagram pictures, if not with a lot less pink as the baker girl’s room.

This office was anything but messy.

Every shelf seemed to have thick volumes carefully arranged and cared for.

There was a minimal pile of papers in what she guessed was an inbox, the outbox was empty.

The thin monitor stood on a narrow stand, a very generic screen saver of lines and dots dancing on the screen. She tapped a random key to return to a work screen only to find a password prompt pop up instead. So she tried the drawers in the desk. Every last one was locked.

Lila frowned.

Whoever the owner of this office was, they were very careful about protecting who they truly were. Nothing in this room gave her any detail as to this person’s personality or what they did for the company.

She absently tapped a finger on the desk surface, giving the room another look.

Who was this person?

The sound of the door opening had her quickly dashing around the desk to stand next to the chair meant for guests. Being caught snooping would not bode well for her.

Thankfully the young-looking man that walked in had his eyes fixed on the tablet in his hands, the assistant from before walking in with him.

“Please have a seat, Miss Rossi,” the man spoke, rounding the desk to take his own seat, the assistant standing just a step behind the chair.

“I do hope we can resolve this to everyone’s satisfaction, sir,” Lila smiled pleasantly, playing the part of a demure teen.

“I highly doubt that,” the man replied. “Now, before we begin, I am Monsieur Charles Desnaud. I am the current Legal Counsel and legal representative for Agreste Design.”

Lila suppressed her frown in favour of looking innocently surprised. “Oh, you’re not a designer?”

“No, I am not. I will be acting on behalf of Monsieur Gabriel Agreste and his interests. Please know, everything that will be discussed here is being recorded and a copy will be sent to your parent, a certain diplomatic aid by the name of…” He flipped a page on his tablet. “Ms. Benigna Rossi at the Italian Embassy.”

“Oh, you know, my Mother is very busy. You can just give me her copy of this meeting and I can make sure she gets it.”

“No need, Miss Rossi, an electronic copy is being sent to her embassy email account while a transcript will be delivered to the embassy through registered courier.”

“How thoughtful of you.” 

Inside, the teen was seething which trying to find a way to keep her Mother from ever seeing the transcript or hearing the recording

“While I abhor holding such legal discussions without a parent or legal guardian present, Monsieur Agreste has assured me we can proceed since, despite your age, you can appreciate the seriousness of the situation.”

“Mister Agreste always had the utmost confidence in me,” she smiled.

“Confidence that no longer extends past this situation. Miss Rossi, you received an email from Madame Sanscoeur warning you to stay away from Agreste interests, not limited to and including Monsieur Adrien Agreste. You were warned not to attempt any kind of communication or else legal proceedings would be brought against you for non-compliance. Do you understand?”

“Yes, sir, I understand. But I didn’t receive any email.”

“That, Miss Rossi, is false.”

She faked a shocked gasp. “Are you accusing me of lying?”

He never batted an eye. “I am, Miss Rossi. The message you were sent had a read-receipt attached to it. Do you know what this is?”

Lila began to blink, a chill racing up her spine. “Read-receipt?”

“This email function notifies the sender the moment the email is opened and read. We received, recorded, and filed the read-receipt from your email account. Had you deleted the email, we would have also received a notification to that effect. So, yes, claiming you never received the email from Madame Sanscoeur, is a lie.”

“O-oh… Oh! That email!” she faked. “That’s actually the reason why I wanted to speak with Mister Agreste or Miss Sanscoeur. I thought that email was sent to the wrong person, possibly meant for that little troublemaker, Marinette Dupain-Cheng. I’m sure this was all a misunderstanding and I was hoping to be able to explain and fix this whole nasty affair.”

“Miss Marinette Dupain-Cheng…” He flicked through a few pages on his tablet before pausing and reading for a moment. “Ah, yes, Monsieur Agreste did mention the young lady.”

“There, you see? I’m sure the cease and desist email that was sent was actually meant for her. She’s been nothing but trouble for Adrien since he started at _Collège Françoise Dupont_ , always invading his space or trying to use his name to bolster her attempts at being a fashion designer.”

Desnaud looked at her over the edge of the tablet, an eyebrow raised in obvious curiosity. “Please, continue, Miss Rossi,” he urged, setting the tablet down carefully.

Lila smirked internally in triumph. 

She could build herself up and destroy Dupain-Cheng’s chances in the fashion world in one conversation. 

Yes, she would definitely use this opportunity.

“Well, she’s always been jealous of how well Adrien and I hit it off when I first started at school. We’re very close and it seems she’s always had a bit of a crush on him. So, she’s been trying to discredit me at every chance she gets. She even tried to accuse me of stealing a book that belonged to Mister Agreste that Adrien had brought to school. She doesn’t believe that I know so many interesting and famous people, nor does she believe that I was instrumental in numerous environmental initiatives at the United Nations. Even when she tried to make something, I’m often the one to step in and have to fix them. Her parents may be bakers, but she has no skill whatsoever. And her designs are so sloppily put together… I mean, one hat winning a contest does not make you a designer. I hear that was a project she had been working on for several months. Can you imagine, working on just one hat for so long?” and she tittered ever so innocently.

But Desnaud didn’t seem amused, merely staring at her as if waiting to see if there would be more.

Almost too carefully he picked up his tablet again and began scrolling through pages. The assistant behind him was almost smirking evilly, keeping her steely eyes fixed on the door ahead of her as if to keep from bursting in laughter.

“The Derby hat design for Monsieur Agreste’s college design contest,” Desnaud began slowly. “There were numerous witnesses interviewed after the fact to have a complete picture of the designer’s processes. Each one attested to the fact no design for this hat existed until a few hours after the start of the contest, confirmed by Adrien Agreste himself who saw Miss Marinette’s sketchbook.”

Lila blinked.

No one had ever told her any of this.

“It is noted there is a time-stamped cellphone picture of the design taken by a Miss Sabrina Riencompris as part of her attempt to help Miss Chloé Bourgeois appropriate the design for her own gain.”

“O-oh?”

“Your claim of sloppy designs. Miss Marinette is being courted not only by Agreste Design, but also Madame Audrey Bourgeois herself, as well as the design teams for one Jagged Stone and one Clara Nightingale. Need I remind you, Miss Rossi, of the exacting standards of Monsieur Agreste when it comes to his design and couture staff?”

She shook her head, feeling the world she had created around herself begin to crumble.

If this man ever made any of this public…

And this was going to be reported to her Mother…!

“The matter of the book. It was Miss Marinette who returned the book to Monsieur Agreste directly after having recovered it from where it had been discarded in the trash, only asking that Adrien be allowed to return to the school and not be told she was the reason he was permitted to do so. Monsieur Agreste had briefly pulled Adrien from school as punishment for having taken this book without permission, a book he admitted went missing shortly after meeting with you where you had expressed a marked interest in the designes contained within.”

“But, I never—”

He held up a hand to silence her and allow him to continue. “As for your purported extensive contacts in music, fashion and media, Monsieur Agreste had us look into those. It seems no one you ever mentioned knows who you are. How would you explain something like that, Miss Rossi?”

Lila forced a trembling pout, tears falling from her eyes. “You’re accusing me of being a liar, to my face! How dare you! I’m just fifteen!”

“Fourteen, actually. With quite a record with the _Polizia di Stato_ in Italy. Seems they were investigating you personally right before you and your Mother moved to Paris. Records show you were the instigator to a disturbing number of petty crimes committed by acquaintances of yours.”

“They were all jealous of me!” she cried. “They always tried to get me in trouble with whatever they were doing! I was being framed!”

“I think I should warn you at this time, Miss Rossi, that I am an apathetic individual and this shameless display of emotion from you has no effect. This is why Monsieur Agreste chose me personally to handle the legalities of this case, he is well aware of your ability to manipulate those around you.”

She gaped up at the assistant. “Are you going to let him talk to me and treat me this way?”

The assistant huffed. “Child, I have three teenage Daughters at home, each one more diva that the first in their little tantrums. I can assure you, you are nothing compared to any one of them.”

Lila began to splutter, the tears suddenly forgotten now that the situation was completely turned against her.

“You… you can’t do this to me! Adrien loves me, I know he does!”

“I’m afraid the young man doesn’t, actually, by the rather critical letter about you he asked to include in your file.” Desnaud flicked to a new page on his tablet. “He vehemently denies all your claims of a relationship with him and corroborates the claim that he was at a protected photo set at the Louvre without his phone when your supposed _flagrant délit_ occurred in his bed.”

“No! This is all Marinette’s fault! She turned him against me, told him lies about me! Adrien loves me! If he ever found out you were treating me this way, he would have you all fired!”

“Miss Rossi…” he sighed tiredly.

“If you just let me talk to him, I can make him see she’s a horrible influence on him. His Father saw this too, that’s why she wasn’t allowed to go to his house. I am Gabriel Agreste’s muse—”

“Miss Rossi!” Desnaud snapped.

She fell quiet.

He stared at her long and hard for a moment before heaving a breath in resolution.

“Miss Rossi, it is clear that a simple warning of legal action is not enough to deter your continued attempts, or should I say obsession, to communicate or otherwise align yourself with Monsieur Agreste and his interests. Along with the transcript of this conversation, your Mother will be receiving a protection order against you.”

“You can’t do this to me!”

He ignored her outburst. “This will also be made available to your school. You will be permitted to remain in the same class as Adrien Agreste, but any contact or communication is strictly forbidden. A teacher will be shadowing you between classes to ensure you are adhering to this order. In all other circumstances outside the school environment, you will be required to keep a minimum of fifty metres from Monsieur Agreste, Madame Sanscoeur, Adrien Agreste, and staff currently employed by the Agrestes or Agreste Design, Monsieur Tom Dupain, Madame Sabine Dupain-Cheng, and Miss Marinette Dupain-Cheng.”

“What?” she near shrieked. “Why is _she_ included in all this?”

“This was an amendment requested by Monsieur Adrien. He stated, and I quote, _I don’t want to risk Lila Rossi going after my girlfriend_.”

“His _what_?” 

He carefully laid his tablet on the desk.

“Well, now, it would seem that your supposed relationship with the young man was also a fabrication. Anything else you wish to confess to while we’re behind closed doors?”

All pretenses fell away, revealing the ugly truth of rage on Lila’s face. 

She growled as she stood, tossing her chair aside in fury and stalked out of the room. She stomped her way through near empty hallways, glaring at anyone how dared look her way, and then stormed into the streets outside. Lila headed for the first underground access to the metro, ducking past a barrier to enter the tube and walk along the ramp.

Only there did she stop.

Only there did she lose herself to the fury she had kept more of less bottled within.

Only there did she scream in pure rage.

She heard the familiar flutter of wings, a light breeze touching her wrist as the akuma alighted on her bracelet.

“Where the Hell have you been?” she demanded, tuning her anger on the villain through the telepathic link.

Pain radiated through her mind in warning.

_Mind who you’re speaking to, child. I am in no mood to be trifled with._

”I really don’t care what your problems are, Hawk Moth. I’ve spent the last two weeks building up so much anger in myself, making myself the perfect target for you, and only now do you show up. What kind of villain are you?”

_Terrorising the city and causing akuma are not my only job in this city, Rossi, I have responsibilities. Keep in mind that akumatizing individuals is also my choice alone._

“Wasn’t I impressive enough before now?”

_Perhaps, but I had to be careful. Current situations do not permit me the freedom to act that I once enjoyed. I have limitations now._

She could almost feel him smile in her mind.

_But I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to try, even if this is my last time._

Lila frowned at that.

Last time?

_Tell me, my dear, who has caused such powerful negative emotions in you? Is this Ladybug once more?_

“Not Ladybug this time, but I’ll still go after her for her Miraculous since that’s the price. No, this time I’m going after the whole Agreste family and Marinette Dupain-Cheng. They humiliated me, took away my chance to become famous. I want to crush them.”

There was a long silence, a distinct absence of the energy that crackled to life with the transformation into an akuma.

Had he retracted the butterfly and she hadn’t noticed?

Was he not going to transform her?

No, she needed this! All those against her had to pay!

“Hawk Moth!” she shouted.

_As impressive as your rage is, Miss Rossi, I’m going to have to deny you an easy revenge._

“What?”

_You see, the Agrestes are off limits now after that disaster with my new type of akuma and the boy. Their will is much too strong to break and that fascinates me. I am not done with that family. As for the Dupain-Cheng family, I am not permitted to harm them in any way._

“Not permitted? You’re Hawk Moth, who the Hell has that kind of power over you?”

 _Not your concern, Rossi._ She heard him sigh. _This is truly a shame, you would have been my crowning achievement in all my attacks._

“No! You will not turn your back on me, you coward! To Hell what anyone thinks! You will give me your power right now!”

_You were a good little pawn, Miss Rossi, but our contract is now terminated._

The purple butterfly peeled itself away from her bracelet and lifted towards the exit. Lila grabbed it, trying to hold on to the magical creature and force it to grant her the power of an akuma. It merely slipped through her fingers, as fluid as water.

And with a final flutter, it was gone.

“No! You come back here, you bastard! Come back and akumatize me!”

Her voice echoed in the empty tunnel.

She screamed in utter frustration and anger.

For a long moment Lila stood there, stewing in her emotions, panting hard from the mania that made her heart race.

She was being denied?

Again?

No, this wouldn’t do.

This wouldn’t do at all.

If Hawk Moth wasn’t willing to help her with this, there were other ways to ruin people.

Lila still had her contacts with tabloids and smaller media outlets. A few choice rumours from an anonymous email could so easily snowball.

Dupain-Cheng would be the first to crumble under the weight of trying to prove the stories Lila would plant were only lies. She acted strong, but Rossi knew the type. She would fold from the pressure in less than a month, a week if Lila was optimistic.

It would take longer for the Agrestes to cave with their money and legal teams, but she wouldn’t attack the family outright. Vague rumours of issues within the family would be all she could plant.

No, she would damage the company’s reputation.

An anonymous video of some shoddy clothing with the Agreste label ripping at the seams would start it off nicely. There were enough knock-off pieces floating around that finding something truly horrible would be easy.

Then she would put out a call for others to also post about the poor craftsmanship of the fashion pieces. The chance of a five minutes of fame was too much of a siren’s call from online trolls. They would flock to her call.

From there a rumour about Chinese or Indian sweatshops would strike a chord with activists who would start an investigative campaign against the company. Any tiny little link would be blown out of proportions. 

The silk was made using silkworms in China? 

The workers collecting the silk are paid only pennies per hour, not to mention they are killing silkworms by the millions. 

Agreste Design should have known!

PETA would have a field day with that link, not to mention Agreste Design still used real furs and leathers in their products.

Lila just had to turn the world’s militant and indignant eye on the fashion house.

Deny her the destiny she deserved, will they?

They would soon learn to regret ever making an enemy out of Lila Rossi.

* * *

Alya felt herself shrink where she sat in the lush grasses of the _Champ de Mars_. Next to her, Nino had sunk his face into his hands, pushing his hat off in the process. 

Across from them Marinette sat on her hip, leaning on one hand, while Adrien was half curled in her lap and near dozing from her other hand carefully threading through his hair as if she were petting a cat. One could almost believe he was asleep.

The information the baker girl had just shared merely added to the guilt both Alya and Nino shared.

And confirmed some growing suspicions.

Lila Rossi had lied about everything.

Marinette had texts from Jagged Stone and Clara Nightingale confirming they had no idea who Lila was, Jagged even confirming that he was allergic to real fur so owning a cat had never been a possibility. Not to mention that Fang would have made a quick snack of such a small pet. And Clara confirmed she had only her own Mother as an emergency contact. Why would she have needed a fourteen-year-old for such a thing?

There was a letter from Prince Ali to Adrien asking him to thank Chat Noir for the video he had sent of Ladybug and himself. Something Chat Noir had promised since Prince Ali had missed a lot of what Paris could offer during his last trip. Rose had been wonderful, but they really had only a few short hours before his chaperon caught up with them. It had been a video playfully entitled _A Day in the Life of the Bug and Cat_ , and was basically a video of one of their rare daytime patrols. In the letter Prince Ali had asked who this Lila person was that Chat Noir had casually mentioned as they visited certain spots across the city.

Marinette had showed them a video from Ladybug confirming that she was not friends with Lila and that anyone claiming so was placing themselves in great danger. She explained how these people could be kidnapped to be used against the Heroes, something they would never know happened unless told by a third party since they were not friends. She also explained how it was impossible for her to know Lila in particular since, according to information relayed to her by both trusted sources, the girl had only just recently arrived in Paris, less than a day or so, when she began making her claims and there had not been any akuma attack in the two weeks before her arrival.

Alya herself had been able to confirm that date with the Embassy where she also learned something else. Lila’s Mother was not some high-ranking diplomat as she had led everyone to believe. She was a diplomatic aid, basically tantamount to an assistant at best.

“S-so… everything else…?” Alya could barely managed the words.

Marinette shrugged. “I can’t positively confirm or deny any of it, but if she lied about these things… I mean, c’mon, really? Being blinded by a paper napkin?”

“Not to mention the tinnitus when she’s shown she could easily go up and down the Eiffel Tower, both akumatized and not,” Adrien added drowsily, never once opening his eyes. “I’ve been akumatized, I can tell you whatever injury you had before follows you in. I also know she can’t model worth a damn, no matter what she says. Vincent was about to recommend sacking her since she refused to take his direction. I _convinced_ Father to do it anyway.”

Marinette smothered her giggle, understanding the veiled comment, her fingers lightly scratching strange patterns against his scalp.

Nino looked up from his hands. “We are so sorry we didn’t believe you, Dudette. She was just so… so…”

She smiled at him. “It’s okay, Nino. When she threatened me, saying she would turn everyone against me, she told me this is what she does. She tells people what they want to hear, it’s on them if they don’t check the facts.”

“What kind of reporter does that make me, though?” Alya questioned, a sob on the edge of her voice. “And I even dared tell you to prove your facts when I didn’t even bother checking hers myself, when all you were trying to do was protect the rest of us... like you always do. I’m a horrible reporter and an even worse friend for letting you go through all that.”

“She’s very good at convincing people,” Marinette placated. “She managed to convince Nathalie to let her into Agreste Manor, remember?”

“Don’t remind me,” Adrien grumbled. “That’s when she probably got my spare key to let herself in while we were all at that last photoshoot. She was snooping quite a bit when I had my back turned.” He reluctantly sat up, staying close to Marinette’s side. “She uses information about people to her advantage. She found out I had a slight dip in one of my grades and used it to convince Nathalie she was helping me study. Thirty minutes in the same room is more than my nerves could take.”

“What about when you have to model with her?” Nino queried.

“Had, past tense. I ignored her, pretended she was just another model I had to interact with, but nothing more. When the session ended, I was gone.”

“And you say Vincent didn’t like her?”

He shrugged. “She was lying, and he knew it. The more he tried to give her direction, the more she tried to counter it with something of her own. Those poses with her, all her idea because she threatened to walk if he didn’t take the shots. I think he was more afraid of what my Father would say if the sessions were cancelled because of an on-set argument.”

Alya sighed as she pulled out her phone. “You didn’t need a psychology degree to see how uncomfortable you were though.” She pulled up the photo spread from the last session the model had endured. “They didn’t even bother trying to airbrush the tension lines out of your face. And your posture just screams _get the Hell away from me_. Were we all really that blind to it all?” 

She flicked the page to her blog, flipping through every post Lila had ever made on the Ladyblog. There were a lot of them, all lauding herself in some way for her connection to Ladybug and how she had been instrumental in one defeat or another of the akuma. Every post, every video, was self-congratulating first with a thin praise of the Heroes almost as an afterthought.

How could she have been so blind about the Italian girl?

She looked up at the pair before her. They were watching her, waiting. Even Nino was silently regarding her, part of him knowing what she was about to do.

“This…” and she held her phone up just a bit as if in offering. “This is an apology to you, Mari. I know it doesn’t make up for even a fraction of what I put you through, but I hope you see it as a start.”

Marinette blinked at her. “What’re you doing?”

She began typing in commands at a furious pace. “Deleting every last interview I ever took of her, every post she ever made, every little comment she ever posted. All of it. And I’m blocking her from being able to post or comment ever again. If there is one thing I learned from Max, it’s how to identify and block ISPs. Then I’m going to post an explanation later tonight for all my followers as to what happened. I wanted this to be a reliable and credible site for new about Ladybug and Chat Noir, and she basically turned me into a trash tabloid with all her lies. Well, never again.”

With a final jab of her thumb, every possible reference to Lila Rossi disappeared from the Ladyblog.

“How do you feel?” Nino asked his girlfriend.

She released a heavy breath, shoulders sagging. “Strangely… lighter. From now on, no more posts without reliable sources and thorough reference checks… unless they come from Ladybug and Chat Noir directly.”

The small group chuckled.

“Welp, on that note…” Nino stood and stretched his arms above his head. “Alya and I have a number of rug rats to babysit. Do you guys have time to hang out again tomorrow? We have a lot more to talk about on how to deal with that fake.”

“I am remarkably free these days,” Adrien grinned knowingly. “What about you, My Princess?”

She smiled, knowing exactly what he meant. “My day tomorrow is actually wide open, My Kitten.”

Alya smirked as she stood. “Princess? Kitten? I’m going to want to know where those names come from.”

“Oh, that’s easy!” Nino chuckled, receiving a curious stare from the hidden heroes. “She was his captive like a princess caught by a baddie in one of those old medieval stories, and he was akumatized into a cat. Princess and Kitten.”

Alya blinked. “Oh… That actually makes a lot of sense,” and the pair walked off together as they waved to their friends.

The pair and their kwami let out a collective sigh of relief.

“That boy gets awfully close to figuring out the truth sometimes,” Plagg voiced from Marinette’s purse.

“They do say it’s the quiet ones you have to watch out for,” Adrien agreed, stretching out again to rest his head in Marinette’s lap.

She carefully toyed with his bangs. “Well, then, that means we have to watch out for him and Nathaniel.”

“Even if they did find out, I’m pretty sure they would keep it quiet. Nino is one of our best friends, and Nate is just too good a guy to try to out us.”

“This is true.”

“I think the only people you would have to worry about in your class are Alya and Lila,” Tikki added.

Marinette scrunched up her nose adorably in thought. “I can understand why Lila, she would use it to her advantage somehow. Maybe even try to force the city to take our Miraculous by spinning a story about how the city could possibly let a couple of teens fight a supervillain. But why Alya?”

“She’s a reporter,” the kwami explained. “The first thing she would want to do is tell the entire world this amazing scoop: the identities of Ladybug and Chat Noir.”

“She’d go and post it on her blog, tagging every news outlet she knows,” Plagg added. “Only then would she probably stop and question if what she did was okay.”

“She’d probably try to argue her side of it too, why it was a good thing,” Marinette near muttered.

Adrien looked up at her slightly angry features. “She did that with the photo after Oblivio, didn’t she?”

She nodded. “I couldn’t convince her how invasive it was of her to post something so private. I kind of think maybe Lila talked her into keeping it on the site.”

“We could maybe drop in on Alya, as Ladybug and Chat Noir, and remind her that privacy rules apply to superheroes too?”

“Maybe…”

He reached up to grip her chin, forcing blue eyes to look at him. “Hey, I’m the depressed one in this couple, remember?”

She smirked before making a mess of his hair with her hands. “Oh, really? Funny, you don’t look depressed.” She drifted her hands down the sides of his face and down his neck to smooth over his chest, slightly leaning over him. “In fact, you look like a very contented Kitty on the verge of purring.”

Eyes going wide, his hands slapped over his mouth. “Please don’t make me purr,” came his muffled plea.

She continued her pointed ministrations. “Please, Kitty?”

“It’s embarrassing.”

“Pretty please?”

“Marinette…”

“I like it when you purr.”

He froze and looked up at her in surprise. 

Then, just as a blush started spreading over his cheeks, she heard it. A faint, low rumble from his throat and reverberating in his chest.

A purr.

Not a Chat Blanc loud and debauched sounding purr.

Not a Chat Noir surprised and timid purr.

This was an Adrien Agreste with cat-like tendencies purr, soft and just loud enough for her to hear.

Marinette rewarded him with a happy smile, curling around him to hug him as best she could. Just to have that smile, Adrien decided it was worth the embarrassment to purr, just for her. 

Always only for her.

That thought was even more solidified when he felt her lips brush the bridge of his nose in a light kiss.

Somewhere in the distance he heard the whirring click of cameras snapping off a few dozen photos. The curse of having enhanced hearing. It was a wonder at first, being able to hear a cricket from so far away, and a blessing during battles, being able to hear the enemy before they could approach. But when he could hear the mechanical cycling of a camera from hidden paparazzi, those were the moments he hated.

“I hear them too, Adrien,” the girl whispered softly, having felt him tense.

“I’m sorry—”

“Ah, ah, ah!” she quickly interrupted, pulling back to look him in the eye. “This, just like everything else, is not your fault. Don’t you dare try to apologize for it.”

“Technically, it is my fault since they’re here to take pictures of me.”

“But did you call them? Did you tell them you’d be here?”

“No,” he agreed reluctantly.

“Then the fault is theirs for actively chasing you down. And you being a celebrity is your Father’s fault for forcing you into modelling. So, not your fault.”

He smirked at her dogged attempts to shift all responsibility off of his shoulders. “Can’t I take just a bit of the blame?”

She made a face as if mulling over his question. “Well, maybe the one about you being too pretty. You can have that one.”

“I’ll share that one with you since you’re much prettier than I am.”

She smirked. “I beg to differ, Mister Agreste. I don’t have the title of _Sunshine Child_ or even _Golden Child_. Those are one hundred percent yours. So, that makes you officially prettier.”

A chuckled escaped his lips. “Only because the world hasn’t met the truly amazing and Ladybug-like Marinette Dupain-Cheng. The world would be at your feet from then on.”

“Are you two actually arguing as to who is prettier?” Plagg groused from Marinette’s purse.

“Can you blame me when I’m presented with such a divine, spotted, ebon-haired Princess?” the boy espoused.

“I am not spotted!” she denied.

“Oh, yes, you are,” he countered as he sat up, keeping very close to her and gripping her chin. “You have the cutest dusting of freckles right there across your adorable little nose. Spots for the everyday Ladybug.”

A hot blush tinted her cheeks and she covered her face with her hands. “S-stop th-that.”

“Stop what?” There was clear mirth in his voice.

“B-being s-so da-damned ch-charming,” she managed to stutter, despite her attempts to remain calm.

He carefully gripped her wrists. “Ah, so, is this the reason you were always so flustered around me?” and he placed a gentle kiss on the backs of both her hands.

Marinette curled her fingers, forming fists against her cheeks to only show her eyes frowning at him in skepticism. At that moment, Adrien was struck with just how much she resembled her masked alter-ego, making him wonder how he could have missed the resemblance for so long.

“How insufferable will you become if I say yes?” she questioned, her stutter suddenly gone.

“As insufferable as Chat and you love it,” he laughed, pulling her into his arms.

“Stupid cat,” she muttered with a smile, willing sinking into his arms.

He merely hummed happily into the crook of her neck.

A rapid succession of more whirring clicks sounded in the distance. Marinette chuckled softly as a result.

“We’re giving them lots of materiel to take pictures of.”

Adrien pulled back enough to see her face, arching a playful eyebrow. “Want to give them some more?”

She blushed furiously before laughing and shoving him away.

* * *

Chloé scowled slightly as she read through the latest articles posted in _Paris Match_ currently displayed on her tablet.

Full clandestine photo spreads of Adrien Agreste enjoying a rare walk around Paris with Marinette Dupain-Cheng on his arm. Looking at his candid expressions, she could see genuine joy and enjoyment of his time, the camera having caught the occasional tender look between the pair. It was obvious to anyone; the boy was in love.

Chloé chewed at the inside of her cheek, wanting really hard to hate the whole situation these articles were presenting.

But she couldn’t find it in her to really be mad anymore.

She had seen it from the first day Adrien had returned to school, how close he was to Dupain-Cheng. Ever since the disappearance of his Mother, the boy had been withdrawn and difficult to really and truly cheer up. 

And Dupain-Cheng somehow managed to bring the happy and smiling boy he used to be back into the light.

As much as she had hoped and tried her best to be the one to do that, she couldn’t be angry that someone else had succeeded.

She could be annoyed that it was Dupain-Cheng.

Something must have happened during his akumatization. A week was a long time to spend with someone who wasn’t a blood relative.

Maybe they were able to talk during that time.

Maybe she got through to his rational mind past his feral side.

Maybe he remembered everything that happened.

Too many maybes to list.

Whatever it was, Adrien was the picture of joy and intent on keeping Dupain-Cheng at his side for the foreseeable future. Which meant she now had to tolerate the baker girl. She guessed it was a small price to pay to see her best friend in the best spirits she had seen him in a long time.

Chloé let her tablet drop on her knee as she stared out the window of her limo.

The other curious occurrence of late was the total lack of Gabriel Agreste in the world. His fashion empire still had a choke hold on designers and their designs, but the man himself was even more of recluse than before. Nathalie was no longer present at events with the tablet Skyping the man’s dour puss everywhere she went for him. She didn’t even accompany Adrien to school anymore.

All the better.

Both were become overly watchful of Adrien and it was visibly sapping his energy.

Since returning from his akumatization, Adrien was a lot freer. True, his bodyguard still followed him around, but that was a necessary evil considering Adrien’s celebrity status in Paris. And the large man also didn’t hold the boy back or force the imposed timetable and schedule on him anymore.

If there was one thing Chloé was certain of, it was that Adrien deserved so much more love and freedom than his blood family had given him.

At least now he was forging a new family with his friends to receive all of that, and more.

Her limo came to a stop before the school and her driver quickly opened the car door for her. Sabrina was already standing there, dutifully waiting on her.

And leaning on the large stone railing of school’s main stairway, was Lila Rossi. She was dressed a little bit more refined, her makeup done just a bit more carefully, and her hair practically shone with the care and effort she had put into it that morning. The girl was absently scrolling through her cellphone, an almost bored expression on her face.

Chloé had to frown.

She was waiting for someone, and she didn’t have to wonder too hard about who that someone was.

Chloé would be damned if she let that Italian bimbo ruin Adrien’s happy life, even if it was with Dupain-Cheng.

She stalked over to the girl, noting Lila either didn’t notice her approach or was trying her best to ignore her.

“You just don’t give up, do you, Rossi,” Chloé near snarled.

Lila put on her most surprised expression possible, but either Chloé was getting better at detecting the lies or Rossi was being less careful with them around people she knew were already aware she lied.

“Oh, hi, Chloé!” she gushed. “What do you mean?”

“Can it! I know exactly what you’re trying to do. I also know everything about the protection order Mister Agreste levelled against you.”

Chloé saw the corner of the girl’s eye twitch. “I… I really don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“The protection order. You know, that legal document that says you have to keep fifty metres from everyone in the Agreste family or employed by the Agrestes. I also know this includes the Dupain-Chengs since someone obviously knew you’d be bitch enough to try something against them.”

Now the frown appeared on Lila’s face.

“And how would you know about that?”

She flipped her ponytail back casually. “Please! Nothing happens in this city without Daddy knowing about it. The protection order was signed by the Chief Prosecutor who reports everything he signed into order to Daddy in his weekly judicial reports. And Daddy has no secrets from me.”

“I’m surprised you haven’t thrown a fit about this, Chloé, seeing as how you gush every chance you get about how close you and your Adri-kins are.”

Blue eye flashed dangerously at the Italian girl. “You don’t have the right to ever use the name! That name is between me and Adrien from when we were babies together.”

Lila had the good sense to shrink under the fury that threatened to erupt.

“Fine! So, what do you want to do about it?”

“What?”

“It’s why you’re here, right? You want Adrien back?”

Chloé actually laughed. “This is what you think I’m coming at you for? Are you really that single minded? I want my Adri-kins to be happy and, as much as I loath to say it or even think it, Dupain-Cheng makes him impossibly happy. So, I’m actually here to warn you off.”

Lila blinked, a tinge of fear entering her eyes.

“Wa… warn me off?”

“Very simply, Rossi, I will be watching you very closely. If not me, then one of my spies. Oh, don’t look for Sabrina. She’s a good assistant to me, but everyone knows her ties to me, so she is hardly spy material.”

“I tried, but people tend to notice the red hair,” the mousy girl grinned sheepishly.

“And she is hardly the only person under my orders in this school. You try anything that breaks the protection order, and I will know. And I will report you to the authorities with the utmost level of pleasure.”

Lila’s frown returned. “Are you threatening me?”

Chloé put on her best air of shock. “Threatening? Threatening? Me? Oh, dear girl, I don’t threaten. Threats are so beneath someone of my elite status. No, I’m not threatening. I am letting you know exactly what to expect.”

“You don’t even like Marinette. Why would you do this?”

“I told you, Rossi, but I guess you have difficulty hearing with that tinnitus and all. I want my Adri-kins to be happy and I will defend that happiness with everything I am capable of. Toe the line, and I will have you shipped back to Italy.”

Lila smirked as if finding a chink in the threat. “My Mother works for the Embassy. Only the _Président_ can have her removed.”

“Wrong again, Rossi,” Chloé grinned.

The girl’s expression faltered.

“It wasn’t really difficult to find out your dear Mother is not the high ranking diplomat you made everyone believe she was. Your Mother is nothing more than a glorified secretary.”

Sabrina adjusted her glasses, seeing an opening in the conversation. “As such, all diplomatic immunities afforded to a full diplomat are not reflected on her position as she is considered embassy staff and not actually a member of the _mission_. Members of the Embassy who have a portfolio, as well as their family members, are granted protections from prosecution in the host nation, but these protections can also be removed by the Embassy at any time given the nature of the legal issue being levied.”

Chloé’s grin grew slightly more evil. “This is part of the reason I keep Sabrina around. Her knowledge of the law is only equalled by Max. How do you think I can get away with so much? You know, it really is too bad you didn’t think of stealing Sabrina away from me, or even trying to befriend me the moment you arrived. The three of us together could have been terrors to this city.”

“We… we still could be.”

“No, we can’t. You tried to take Adrien to use him for your own gain. I’ve seen too many people do that to him already and I won’t stand for it.”

“And how are you so certain Marinette isn’t doing the same thing?”

“Please! She loves the boy too much to even begin to think of using him. Plus she just far too good a person to stoop to your level. I might have forgiven you had you just gone after Dupain-Cheng for calling out your obvious lies. But the moment you started after Adrien, _that_ is where I draw the line.”

She saw Lila’s eyes dart at something behind her and turned in time to see Adrien arriving from the Dupain-Cheng bakery, the baker girl tucked at his side, arm in arm. The sting of losing the boy to Dupain-Cheng was still there, but it really didn’t hurt as much when she saw the smile on his face. A smile that actually reached his eyes.

Chloé had lost, but she could accept this as a good loss.

She returned her attention to Lila who was attempted to circumvent the Mayor’s Daughter, only to be caught in the act.

“Fifty metres, Rossi,” she warned. “That is your only warning.”

And with that, head held high and Sabrina following after her, Chloé climbed the stairs to enter the school right behind the pair she had vowed to protect. 

“Are you really going to make sure she doesn’t do anything against Adrien and Marinette?” Sabrina questioned softly.

“Of course! Those two are just too sweet and innocent that they wouldn’t see the first salvo until it was too late. No one hurts my Adri-kins and now, by extension, Dupain-Cheng. Rossi is a scorpion and I just happen to have access to the size six steel-toed stilettos to crush her.”

Sabrina smiled at her friend. “That’s really great of you, Chloé!”

She smirked rather proudly. “It is, isn’t it? I really can be a good person… when I want to be.”

Her friend and lackey merely chuckled lightly.

Chloé joined her new wards just as they met up with Lahiffe and Césaire. For a long moment she gave a critical stare at Dupain-Cheng, almost as if she were evaluating her, ignoring the warning and worried glances from the others. And innocent and trusting little baker girl that she was just stared back with large blue eyes blinking in confusion.

God, she was just too cute sometimes!

“I don’t like the fact that I lost to you,” Chloé finally admitted. “I hate it, actually.”

The blue eyes became apologetic then. “Chloé…”

She held up a hand sharply to stop her, closing her eyes to collect herself. The girl was just too good for this world. Even after everything she had put her through all these years, she was still trying to placate her.

“It’s because I’m not used to not getting what I want. I see that, I’ve always known that.” Chloé sighed, and then flashed a smile. “But I guess I can overlook that seeing how impossibly adorable you two are together.”

This caused the whole group to start blinking, shocked at the turn of events.

“Adri-kins, you simply must tell me next time you go to a gala with her.”

The boy looked cautious. “Um… why?”

“Well, I know she can design and create something in the blink of an eye because that’s just how good she is, but then she’d be too tired to enjoy the soirée with you. And we simply cannot have you walking the red carpets with someone half asleep on your arm. The optics of it all! So I’m offering to take her shopping _à la Chloé Bourgeois_ to ensure she looks absolutely fabulous while not tiring herself out with last minute alterations.”

Césaire snorted. “Right, just tire out her feet then so she can barely walk.”

“Tsk, I would never allow that! I know a fantastic little boutique that has the best insoles for any kind of shoe imaginable and in every size. Makes you feel like you’re walking on a cloud no matter the condition of your feet. How do you think I do it?” she smirked triumphantly.

“What gives, Chloé?” Lahiffe questioned.

“Beg your pardon?”

“Well, for four years you’ve been making Mari’s life Hell, and the rest of us along with her, and now you want to be BFFs with her?”

“Well, maybe not BFFs, I reserve that title strictly for Ladybug.” She missed Dupain-Cheng rolling her eyes and a barely supressed chuckle from Adrien. “But seeing as she is now with my Adri-kins, I have decided in my magnanimity to at the very least try to be a friend. I mean, look at these two! You just know they’re forever.”

She certainly did not miss the dark blush that raced over both of their faces.

“Besides, Ladybug trusted me with the Bee Miraculous, which means I am now a Hero of Paris. As such, I have to try to be a better person, right?”

“So, you’re really doing this for Ladybug?” Césaire pressed.

“To prove to her that I continue to be worthy of being Queen Bee. And I win lots of friend points with my Adri-kins.”

Adrien chuckled softly. “Ah, there is it.”

“Well, I just don’t want you to forget about me, that’s all,” she sniffed.

“Chloé, no one could _ever_ forget you. It’s a complete impossibility.”

She beamed proudly, and then turned her attention to Dupain-Cheng. “So, I guess all this is me offering a long overdue olive branch. Though, with everything I ever put you through, I really don’t expect you to accept--”

Dupain-Cheng reached over and took one of her hands in both of hers, giving it a warm squeeze, a bright smile on her lips. “Consider it accepted, Chloé.”

Behind her, Sabrina clapped happily as Chloé felt all tension just leave her body. This girl really was too good for this world.

“Thank you… Marinette.”

Watching from around the edge to the school’s main entrance, Lila Rossi glared.


	7. Chapter 7

Marinette scrunched her nose as she penciled in her tentative answer to the Physics equation.

“So… the molar weight is… four point two?”

Adrien gave her a slightly pained smile before shaking his head. She groaned and dropped to her belly on his bed, face pressed into the flat of the mattress.

“I’m going to fail Physics!” she wailed.

She had been doing this particular set of Physics work for the last hour or so and Marinette was getting progressively more frustrated. They had spread out their work on his bed for comfort’s sake, both agreeing that, with the amount of work they had to go through, the couch or his desk would be a disadvantage for them. The television played in the background, tuned to one of Paris’ many news channels. Tikki and Plagg were on the second floor of his room, talking quietly just out of earshot.

“I can figure out how to use the most impossible of objects created by my Lucky Charm, find the best way to defeat an akuma, and can make my yo-yo do things that shouldn’t be physically possible,” she mumbled. “How is it a simple Physics equation is getting away from me?”

He gave the back of her knee a gentle squeeze in sympathy. “Take a break and help me with my Algebra assignment then. I think you’ve gotten to the point of overthinking the equation.”

“Probably,” she sniffed. She raised her head to look back at him. “That’s another thing. How is it I suck at Physics, which is all numbers and equations, yet I understand Algebra, which is also all numbers and equations?”

He chuckled. “I will not even try to figure out how your creative mind works, My Lady. That could be a dangerous conversation.”

She nudged his hip with her foot with a half-insulted smirk. Then, sitting up, she leaned her chin to his shoulder to look into the textbook he held.

This was definitely easier. But he was also a perfectionist with his work. His errors, compared to her own in her Physics assignments, were in far smaller numbers. She had to silently bless him if he was merely distracting her from her problems with these minor mistakes.

“Do you have any plans for the winter break?” Adrien abruptly asked, carefully erasing and correcting an error she had pointed out.

She blinked at the sudden change in conversation. “Um… not that I’m aware of, no. I mean, unless Mama and Papa have something planned… But that’s still another two months out. Why?”

“Well, seeing as I now have Hawk Moth on a leash, I was wondering if you think it might be a good time for that vacation we talked about.”

Surprise caused her to pull away slightly. “Really?”

“I mean, only if you really want to,” he tried to backtrack. “It’s just, I’m pretty sure Father won’t risk trying to akumatize anyone with the threat of the akuma tracking app active on my phone to notify me if he tried anything, and we’ve more than earned some time off… I thought, maybe…”

He looked so shy then, so unsure of himself, beginning to curl in on himself as if realizing he might have overstepped am unspoken boundary. Marinette smiled at how endearing it made him.

“Where would we go?”

His posture immediately straightened, head snapping up. He looked so surprised that she had accepted.

“Really? Oh, wow… um… okay…” and he fumbled with his books to find his tablet, Plagg and Tikki floating down to their Chosens’ shoulders to see the offered choices. “There are a few places we could go where they guarantee there won’t be any paparazzi or reporters camping out for a story.”

“All super exclusive places, right?”

He smiled at her. “Nothing but the best.”

She giggled lightly. “So, where do you have in mind?”

“There’s Mustique in the Caribbean. The British Royals consider it like their second home. Very private and William has been texting lately that, since Harry and Meagan are now in the US, I’m free to use his villa any time I want.”

“Rent your own private island,” she murmured the header under the photos. “Wow…”

”Hey, Tikki, when was the last time we were on an island?” Plagg questioned with a small smile.

She sighed dreamily. “It’s been centuries, easily. I think the last island we were on was in the Mediterranean.”

Adrien smiled at the kwami before continuing. “Sir Richard Branson has been trying to get my Father to come back to Necker Island for years now. Sends him an invitation every few months or so. I’m sure we can get the invitation extended to us. Or if you want real seclusion, there’s the Seychelles.”

Marinette peered at the written description. “Only accessible by private helicopter… I’ve never ridden in a helicopter. Well, not as Marinette anyway. Doesn’t your family own an island too? I noticed you didn’t include it in your list.”

He frowned at his tablet. “ _He_ controls everything on that island. I know he has cameras all over the place, and the employees are completely loyal to him. If we went there, we’d be spied on the entire time so he could find a way to break the contract I forced him to sign.”

Marinette hugged his arm to herself. “Definitely never going there then,” she assured.

Tense muscles loosened in relief that she wouldn’t press the issue, much as Chloé had done years passed. Adrien smiled at the top of her head before placing a gentle kiss in her hair. She made a small pleased sound, resting her cheek to his shoulder. He watched her fingers skim over the tablet, scrolling through the three suggested locations.

“Where do you want to go?” she asked softly.

“Anywhere so long as you’re with me.”

She smirked at him, poking his side. “Sap. But seriously, your choice.”

He huffed a breath, looking towards the windows in thought. “I’ve never been given the option to choose before,” he admitted softly.

Marinette felt her heart tighten at that. To never be given an option about something, to never be given a choice… 

She couldn’t imagine living such a life where the simple act of walking out the door was so controlled.

“Well, I’m giving you the option. Anywhere you want to go, anywhere in the world. You lead and I’ll follow.”

This pulled a chuckle from him. “I’m usually following your lead, Bugaboo.”

“Not this time, Kitty. This time it’s all you.”

“Can I get a few days?”

“As much time as you want.”

“So long as there’s plenty of cheese, I’m up for anywhere,” Plagg added, dashing off for his fridge for his coveted Camembert.

Adrien took a deep and slow breath in thought. “This is going to take a lot of getting used to. It’s all so new.”

Marinette smiled gently. “We’ll take it one step at a time. There’s absolutely no rush.”

He chuckled darkly. “Kagami would say my indecision is my weakness.”

She sniffed. “The difference between you two is she was raised by a Tiger Mom while you were raised by a non-existent Father. She once told me her Mother forced her to learn the right and proper way of doing things so she would never make a mistake. You, on the other hand, were shut away from the world so you would never have to make a mistake.”

“That makes me pretty messed up then.”

“Just a bit.” She wrapped her arms around his shoulders to hold him tight. “But I wouldn’t have you any other way, My Prince,” and she placed a gentle kiss to his cheek.

Adrien turned in her arms to hold her, face pressed into the crook of her shoulder, mildly aware of the Motherly smile Tikki gave them both.

He felt gutted and blessed all at once each and every time Marinette called him her prince.

How had he gotten so lucky, so blessed to have found someone so willing to accept him without reservation, flaws and all? 

She never cared about his social status, his money or fame. 

Not once was she concerned about the optics of being together, what other people would think. 

Material things and notoriety meant nothing. 

She cared about him, not the name.

She wanted to be with him, away from the cameras.

She loved him, not what being with him could do for her.

“God, I love you, Marinette,” he breathed fiercely.

“I love you, too, Adrien.”

And they just sat there in silence, holding each other, one of her hands gently carding through his hair. Adrien loved moment like this. They didn’t talk, not because they had nothing to say, but because they didn’t need to say anything. She knew sometimes all he needed was to feel a caring pair of arms wrapped around him, to hear a soft heartbeat.

Part of him though, the broken part of him, felt it wasn’t fair to her to always have to be his rock like this. It terrified him that one day she might get tired of all his issues and just leave him. 

He pulled back reluctantly. “Sorry,” slipped from his lips before he could stop it.

“Not your fault,” she replied without knowing what he was apologizing for, threading her fingers through his bangs. 

More reason to add to his list why he adored her so much.

She often didn’t need to know his reasons for saying or doing things, she just knew.

“You don’t have to take the blame for everything that happens, My Kitten,” she continued. “Sometimes things will happen by no fault of your own. You can try to always do the right thing, but that doesn’t always work out.”

“Know that from experience, do you?”

She smiled. “You might say that.”

There was a knock on his door shortly before Nathalie walked in before being prompted, barely giving enough time for the kwami to hide. She had a noticeable pause at finding both teens sitting close if not innocently on Adrien’s bed, papers and textbooks surrounding them. She cleared her throat as if collecting herself, no doubt having expected a pair of teenagers to have been in a more compromising situation than what she saw.

“The car is ready to take you to your afternoon photo session, Adrien.”

“Thank you, Nathalie.” Then, turning to Marinette, “Want to join me?”

She blinked at Adrien in surprise. “Am I allowed?”

“Of course you’re allowed! Isn’t that right, Nathalie?”

There was an edge to the way he said her name, almost in warning or daring. The woman’s shoulder’s stiffened imperceptivity at the flash of bright green from his eyes.

Nathalie allowed herself only a second to swallow and compose herself. She would have to ask her employer if perhaps the white akuma had any residual effects that might be possible on its victim.

“You are quite welcome to attend this session with him, Miss Marinette,” she confirmed.

“Give us about five minutes to pack up our books,” Adrien instructed then.

With an acknowledging nod, the assistant left. Quickly the pair gathered up their papers and books, Adrien stacking his onto his desk while Marinette sorted them the best she could into her backpack. As she called to the kwami to come hide in her purse for the trip, Adrien took the backpack from her and refused to give it back, slinging it over his own shoulder defiantly.

“My Lady, I am a gentle-cat,” he smirked. “As such, it would be very unsightly of me to let you carry such a heavy bag around.”

“It’s just a bookbag, Adrien,” she grinned at his antics, trying to reach for her bag that he kept just out of reach. “I carried it here, didn’t I?”

“And that was a total faux-pas on my part for letting that happen. So now I will carry this hefty weight to the car and, at the end of the shoot when we drop you off, I will carry it to your door as well.”

She shook her head with a patient smile, hooking her arm with his offered one. “You over-dramatic weeb.”

Adrien merely chuckled as they left the room to head outside to the waiting car. Nathalie was already waiting by the vehicle’s front passenger door, her ever-present tablet under her arm. The teen’s bodyguard was on the driver’s side, quietly surveying the crowd beyond the manor’s gate with his perpetual scowl. A flurry of camera flashes erupted the moment the teens stepped beyond the front door, following their every action as Adrien opened the rear car door and ushered his girlfriend inside.

The large gates for the Manor slowly swung open as the car approached it, giving a chance to the crowd to move out of the way to allow the vehicle to exit. Those beyond gathered around the car, clamouring to get the best picture or have a window crack open to allow questions. 

But with tinted and closed tight windows, neither chance would happen.

“I never noticed before, but is it always like this?” Marinette questioned about the throngs of reporters.

Adrien offered a casually annoyed glance outside the window. “Mm, more so now since I was akumatized. It’s like they’re waiting for it to happen again so they can catch in on video and earn a rich payday.”

“That is so messed up.”

“It’s the paparazzi,” he shrugged. Then he frowned slightly. “But sometimes I feel like they know something I don’t.”

“Oh?”

Adrien cast a quick glance at Nathalie, noting how her head was turned ever so slightly to listen to their conversation. To anyone else, they no doubt wouldn’t have noticed the subtlety of it, but Adrien had pretty much grown up around this woman. He knew her mannerisms inside and out. He knew if she was being sincere or if she was merely teasing.

So the slight tilt of her head meant she was eavesdropping.

He leaned in closer to Marinette and dropped his voice to a near whisper. With the soft drone of the car on Paris’s streets, unless one was sitting right next to him like the baker girl was, no one else would be able to hear him speak now.

“I don’t think the akuma was completely cleansed out of me, My Lady,” he whispered to Marinette. “There have been a couple of times this week when both Plagg and I caught… I don’t know… changes? Something happening when I let myself get frustrated. Plagg noticed my eyes went Chat a few times.”

Marinette covered one of his hands with his own, a small comforting gesture. “Maybe we should go talk to Master Fu tonight during patrol. It was a new kind of akuma neither of us ever experienced before. There might be something in the grimoire your Father had that helped him create it, and Fu has a digital copy.”

“How’d he get a copy? It’s back in Father’s safe.”

She hesitated. “I… I brought it back when he pulled you out of school that day. Lila took it from you and then tossed it in the trash at the park. Tikki told me it was imperative I get that book to the Great Guardian.”

His eyes softened in awe. “No one every told me you brought it back. Why didn’t you ever tell me?”

She avoided his gaze, staring at her own hands twisting absently between them along the seams of the car seat. “You said you were happy when you were at school. I just wanted you to be happy. It wasn’t important that you knew who brought the book back.”

Tenderly, he cupped her face to get her to look at him, smiling at her in adoration. “You are the most amazing and selfless person that has ever existed.”

She blushed fiercely, not used to seeing such reverence and warmth from anyone, still not used to it coming from Adrien.

She realized then and there that she was doomed, and in the best of ways.

Adrien kept her close for the rest of the car ride, shoulder to shoulder, her hand nestled in his. 

There was no way to describe how blessed he felt. 

Marinette and Ladybug were one and the same, two sides of the same person he adored with all his heart. And she loved him back, both side of him. 

This was more than he could have hoped or even asked for. 

It was perfect.

Pulling up to the studio, those in the car could see yet another crush of reporters waiting outside, possibly colleagues or partners to those they had left behind at the manor.

Marinette exhaled softly in awe at their numbers.

“Wow, they really don’t give up easily, do they?”

His hand squeezed hers, a look of worry entering his eyes when he looked at her. “I can understand if this is too much…”

With a gentle smile and a small shake of her head, Marinette enfolded his hand in both of hers, returning the squeeze in reassurance.

“You and me, Kitty, against the world,” she assured.

The expression he sported then, for the briefest moment he allowed himself to wear it, was as if she had revealed the secrets of the Universe to him.

He looked gutted again.

And she hated it.

How often had people disappointed him about anything?

How often had his Father bailed on him for whatever reason?

How many times had he been left to be alone?

“I will always be with you,” she hushed almost fiercely.

Awe flashed in his eyes before, overwhelmed, he closed them to forbid the emotional tears threatening to form. He brought her hands to his lips, kissing each finger in reverence and gratitude.

The car glided to a smooth stop and the press crushed itself towards it, already shouting questions in the hopes of being the first to get answers they so desperately wanted.

Nathalie barely glanced at them all, her frown deepening by minute increments. “Vultures,” she accused under her breath.

It was always the same thing with these _reporters_. The screaming, the yelling, the demands for this or that. They always wanted to know about their personal lives.

Even hers.

Forget asking questions about the company or an up and coming line like real reporters and journalists did, these scum of the earth demanded sordid details. 

Who were any of the Agreste men dating?

Who was she dating?

Was she linking herself to Gabriel Agreste in a romantic sense?

Could she confirm one rumor or another that had been circulating?

The more prominent questions lately seemed to revolve around the Rossi girl. What lies had that one been spreading now?

Not that it mattered much, their Legal Department would handle anything she could try to fabricate.

Nathalie had a nagging suspicion though that the girl in question would try to make an appearance at this photo session, regardless of the fact that she was forbidden.

No doubt this was the reason for the presence of these bottom-feeders. Rossi had spun a tale from one of her fake accounts and was hoping for some drama in her favour.

Despite her loyalty to Gabriel, Nathalie cared deeply for Adrien, almost as if he were her own blood. So she would be damned if she let some little social climbing nobody use the boy for their own gains.

Unlike Miss Marinette.

This girl seemed to genuinely care for the Agreste teen. The whole fact she hadn’t tried to run away from him when he was akumatized offered ample enough proof. What she had heard from their classmates was Miss Marinette had been found at one point and she could have been rescued right then and there.

But she had insisted on staying.

And having seen the girl fight to protect Chat Blanc from Hawk Moth and Mayura’s control had been impressive.

She had no powers, yet was willing to risk her safety to an akuma victim.

It was very admirable.

Nathalie took a deep bracing breath and gave a curt nod to the driver, letting him know it was time to exit the vehicle. With a grunt, he stepped out and rounded the sedan, ploughing through the crowd with ease due to his imposing size. Most were intelligent enough to keep their distance from the big man. Those who weren’t were unceremoniously shoved backwards. Whether they recovered from that action or didn’t fall, neither Nathalie not the bodyguard cared very much.

She turned in her seat to the teens in the back. “Ready?” she prompted.

At the slightly apprehensive look on Marinette’s face, Adrien gave her hand a gentle squeeze. “Just hold my hand and don’t let go.”

A determined look he remembered seeing countless times on Ladybug settled over her face, her shoulder’s squaring as she shifted her grip on his hand to braid her fingers with him, strengthening her grip.

It was a mad a chaotic dash from the vehicle and into the building, paparazzi jostling with each other to try to grab the teens to stop them and interrogate them, as if they were owed this information. 

The discomfort Marinette felt from the grasping hands trying to stop her was palpable to Adrien, feeling his own ire rise that she was being frightened by these media leeches. Each time she pressed into his side to avoid another clutching hand, he had to fight hard not to growl at the media in warning.

The urge to protect her, to take her away from this crazy mob was near overwhelming, almost feral. But he managed to hang on to his rational side telling him to plough through, tenuous as it was, that they would be safe if they just made it inside the studio.

_Prrrotect Marrri_ , he could almost hear being purred in the back of his mind.

It ate away, little by little, at his resolve against his urge to grab his partner and pounce away to safety… somewhere… anywhere but there!

And then the deafening calls and shouts from the media faded away, their clawing grasp left behind them as they entered the building, a heavy wooden door shutting them all out.

The control returned, pushing the feral need to protect back down from wherever it came.

“Adrien?” he heard Marinette call to him, just loud enough over the normal sounds of the studio.

He met her worried eyes.

“Are you okay?” she asked him.

“I’m…” Adrien blinked, considering how he felt. “I don’t… I’m not sure…”

“This is what you told me about in the car, isn’t it?” She peered into his face carefully. “They’re back to normal now, but your eyes were almost glowing just then.”

He felt a slight pang of worry tighten his chest. “I didn’t scare you, did I?”

Her tender smile melted away any concern he might have had. “I never have anything to fear when I see my partner’s beautiful green eyes.” Then her voice dropped so only he could hear. “Even if they turn magenta for a while.”

That statement knocked the air from his lungs, in a good way. Adrien wrapped an arm tight around her shoulders to hold her close, reassured by her words and grateful to have her with him. Marinette hugged him back just as tightly, nuzzling the side of his neck.

“I’m glad you’re here, My Princess,” he admitted in a soft breath.

“Always, My Prince.”

“I was worried I was going to have to call in police to clear out the crowd if you couldn’t get in,” an effeminate man dressed in what could only be described as fashion from the seventies announced as he approached the four newcomers. “Their numbers seem to grow the more our leading man grows up.”

Then he appeared to notice Marinette and the way Adrien held her close to himself, both tender and protective. He seemed confused by this for some as of yet unknown reason.

“Oh, but where are my manners!” he covered his confusion. “I haven’t been introduced to the young lady here.”

The Agreste teen’s smile was cautious, knowing there was something wrong. 

“Michel Deharnais, photography coordinator, this is Marinette Dupain-Cheng,” Nathalie presented, not having noticed the look.

“Enchanté, mademoiselle… Oh, but you were the young lady that… um…” and he gave a concerned look to each in the group, afraid that he was broaching a subject that was taboo.

Adrien allowed himself a small chuckle. “Even akumatized, I still wanted to protect my girlfriend at all costs. But, really, can you blame me?” and he nuzzled his face into Marinette’s hair, drawing a light giggle from her lips.

Again, Deharnais had a very visible and confused pause. “Girlfriend? But I thought the other one…?”

A growl threatened in the back of Adrien’s throat. “What other one?” he all but demanded.

“Oh… uh… the Rossi girl. She’s in make-up right now getting ready.”

Nathalie scowled. “And why are you permitting her in here?”

“She showed me some documents on her phone stating the protection order had been lifted and she was allowed to return, that she and our young Monsieur Agreste had reconciled their differences.”

Marinette could feel Adrien’s frame begin to tremble in growing ire and she tightened her arms around him in response. She could see his eyes seeming to glow in the dim ambient light. From the corner of her eye she could see Deharnais showing his phone screen to Nathalie, having received a copy of the documents Lila Rossi had claimed cancelled out all orders that she stay away. Marinette trailed light scratches along Adrien’s back, making quiet shushing sounds to attempt to calm him. His eyes closed as he leaned into her slightly to better focus on her voice and actions.

“Michel, these documents are forgeries,” Nathalie confirmed, her tone quite curt. “None of the orders against Rossi were rescinded and, seeing this is the level she’ll stoop to, I am confident they never will.”

“Fakes? Oh dear… Security!” At his call, a couple of men came running up. “Go to make-up, find the Rossi girl, and escort her off the premises. Now!”

The men ran off immediately.

Michel turned back to the small group. “I am so incredible sorry for all this. I thought I was smarter than this, to be taken in by a child…”

“She is adept at manipulation,” Nathalie offered. “I, too, was once taken in by her tales.”

He pursed his lips. “Well, I guess you have to be duped once to see her tricks. I know now that I will need to verify with you on anything she may try next.”

“A wise course of action, Michel.”

Nathalie turned her attention to the teens, noting how Marinette doted on Adrien with soft whispers and gentle touches to keep him grounded. Knowing very little about the akuma her employer has sent after him, she had a feeling that strong emotions could possibly trigger the boy. In the time since he had been de-akumatized by Ladybug, she had been witness to many near moments when frustration or anger had caused him to growl low or cause his eyes to begin to glow and become feline.

Carefully she touched the baker girl’s shoulder to let her know Adrien would need to head to wardrobe.

To her credit, Marinette seemed to understand the silent ask.

“Adrien,” she called gently. “Show me your eyes.”

He blinked at nothing a few times before looking at her. His eyes were normal, no glow or feline trait to them.

She smiled tenderly. “Hi, there.”

The tension bled from his shoulders, causing them to droop as he returned her smile. With a light clunk he left his head drop to press his forehead to hers, needing her presence, her scent, to help chase away the animal threatening to escape his control.

At Nathalie’s urging, Michel stayed quiet off to the side. After his earlier mistake with the Rossi girl, he would defer to her decisions while she was on set. And for now, her decision was to allow the two teens a quiet moment for some reason. Michel wouldn’t question the reason though; he knew better than to pry into anything that involved the Agrestes. A number of his past colleagues had not been so smart and were now blacklisted from anything more than Santa Claus photos at the local mall.

So, he let her take the lead as how much time the boy needed right now, and he would let her decide to approach him to inform him that the photoshoot had to proceed now.

Nathalie carefully stepped up to the pair, hesitating only a instant before laying a hand to Adrien’s shoulder. Tired eyes, completely unlike those from a few minutes ago before he learned of the Rossi girl’s presence, looked up to her.

“Do you think you’re still capable of doing this set?” she asked.

Michel couldn’t help but blink in surprise.

For as long as he had worked with Agreste Design, the Sanscoeur woman had always directed the boy through his photo sessions regardless of whether he was tired or ill or injured. True, Adrien had always put a brave face for all the world to see and ploughed through regardless.

But this was different.

Was this a result of his unfortunate akumatization?

Had his household actually softened its stance with him?

Adrien heaved a breath, squaring his shoulders. “Just keep Rossi and the paparazzi away from us,” he began, tightening his arm around Marinette’s shoulders, “… and I’ll be fine.”

“Miss Marinette, would you be willing to stay and assist in wardrobe?” Nathalie asked next.

Marinette perked at this, both surprised and a little excited to actually get hands-on fashion experience at a photoshoot.

“So long as I’m not encroaching…” she stated cautiously.

Michel had to smirk. This girl was interested in fashion, but wasn’t some groupie or wannabe. And she was polite.

Yes, he liked her.

“Janine is head of wardrobe,” he informed the girl. “We’ll just let her know you’re there to learn with Agreste Design’s blessing and I’m sure she’ll have no problem showing you how things are done.”

Marinette was bouncing on her toes now, a wide and happy smile on her face, partially hidden by her fists in an attempt to stifle her elated scream.

“Oh, my God! You’re all serious?”

Adrien chuckled lightly, his hand finding the small of her back to lead her towards the back of the large studio with Michel walking in-step with them. Nathalie and the large bodyguard fell into step behind them.

Wardroom was less of a room and more of partitions erected near a wall where racks upon racks of clothing were organized by color and style. Part of the room was curtained off, a temporary change room of sorts, and the opposite wall was dominated by a large, floor to ceiling mirror. A woman, casually yet fashionably dressed and her greying hair pulled into a tight braid down her back, stood at one of the racks, carefully inspecting the clothing to keep herself busy while she waited. She turned when she heard them enter.

“Janine Caron, Miss Marinette here has permission from Agreste Design to watch and learn the wardrobe aspect of fashion photography,” Michel announced by way of introduction.

The woman allowed herself to give a critical once-over to the girl the Agreste teen was keeping close to himself.

Well groomed.

Clothing were perfectly tailored.

Nothing she was wearing seemed to come from a commercial shop.

Boutique? Maybe… though to be so well tailored and matched to her colour palette would mean she probably made them.

And then there was the clear indication of stars in the girl’s eyes, a desire to learn.

Janine smirked.

“Just look at the eagerness in her eyes. Who am I to crush that dream?”

The security guards from earlier showed up in the doorway then, looking slightly perturbed.

“Sorry to interrupt…” one began. “We looked everywhere for the Rossi girl. Make-up said she was headed here.”

Janine shook her head. “I noticed no one come in here, and I’ve been here for the last hour or so getting the outfits ready.”

Nathalie frowned at that and turned to the security guards. “Keep searching. Enlist the interns to help if you have to. I will not have that girl roaming around the set unchecked.” If the men could have clicked their heels in a salute before leaving, the would have. “Michel and I will ensure the stage is secure and nothing has been tampered with. I wouldn’t put it past Rossi doing something that would make her into a hero or martyr. Adrien, you will remain here with Miss Marinette and Janine, Simon will stand guard outside.”

She left with the photographer in tow before another word could be said.

The head of wardrobe was left to blink after the woman, staring at the closed door for a moment in bewilderment.

“Well, that was interesting,” she voiced to the quiet room. She looked to the teens. “All this for the Rossi girl? Isn’t that a bit much?”

“No,” the pair replied simultaneously, without hesitation.

“Is she really that bad?”

Adrien felt the growl rising in his throat again. “It was her fault I was akumatized. If it wasn’t for her lies and machinations to make herself into something she’ll never be, I would have never gotten… I wouldn’t have been vulnerable to Hawk Moth’s influence.”

Marinette pressed into his side, arms around his waist to offer support. “It’s a long and messy story, one best not shared right now.”

“Oh, yes… of course,” Janine agreed. “A perfect distraction would be to bury the boy in countless outfits, yes? Therapy through fashion.”

That won a light chuckle from the model, allowing Marinette to leave his side when Janine called her over to the racks to peruse the wide selection of outfits. 

No one noticed a pair of green eyes watching from behind a far rack of clothing, frowning.

It was quickly clear to the older woman that this teen girl understood fashion quite a bit, easily picking up the tips she doled out as they prepared the first outfit Adrien would model: a pair of charcoal slacks paired with a rich burgundy shirt under a gray military style jacket, the Agreste Design’s bold G logo embroidered in silver thread on the breast over the heart.

Janine let the girl choose the accessories, wholly approving the selection of a rich cream coloured scarf and black gleaming men’s Brogues.

“So, these will be for the first set of photos, should last maybe fifteen minutes or so, and then we’ll move on to the next set,” the stylist explained.

“Only fifteen minutes?” Marinette questioned.

“Just for this part. The plan is for twenty or so outfit changes today.”

She turned sharply to Adrien, an incredulous look on her face. “Twenty outfit changes?”

He shrugged a smile. “Sometimes more.”

“That’s just horrible!”

“It used to be.” He gave her a coy smirk. “But I think they’ll be very easy to tolerate now.”

Janine had to laugh at the deep blush that race over Marinette’s face and down her neck. This pair was definitely too adorable for words. She handed the selected outfit to the model, indicating the curtained off side of the room.

“Get changed, I’ll go see if their ready for you yet,” Janine instructed, failing to keep the amusement out of her voice.

When she was gone, the door left partially open just enough to see part of the bodyguard’s imposing form just beyond, Marinette turned a glare on her partner. Her frame when ridged as she angrily stomped a foot, a move that so reminded him of Ladybug when she chastised him for a reckless move that it only pulled a chuckle out of him. Whatever her mood, he always found her so impossibly adorable.

“That’s how rumors get started,” she accused.

Adrien smiled. “One I would happily allow to run rampant. I want everyone, the entire planet to know, that I am simply and utterly crazy about you.”

Whatever frustration she was feeling at that moment fizzled away in an instant, the tension in her shoulder melting away at the warmth that invaded her from his words.

“It’s not fair how you do that,” she stated, a blush working its way across her cheeks again.

Adrien carefully folded the outfit over his arm, slowly walking towards her with playful grin on his lips. “What? Change your mood in an instant?”

“I’m an open book to you.”

“Sometimes,” he conceded. He invaded her space and gently gripped her chin to keep eye contact. “Though sometimes I wish it was written in Braille.”

Her eyes went wide in understanding and she hid her face in her hands, feeling her cheeks warm yet again.

“S-stop th-that!”

“Stop what?”

“B-being s-so… s-so…” She took a breath to stop the stutter and levelled him with a glare. “So damned charming!”

Adrien couldn’t hold back the bark of pure laughter. “You are just too cute when flustered, My Princess.”

She pouted, not quite managing to fight her own grin in response to his laugh. “You’re lucky I love you.”

“I know I’m lucky,” he admitted. “The luckiest guy in the Universe because I have the most amazing girlfriend ever.”

Marinette shook her head, her pouting grin turning into a patient smile. “Very smooth, Kitty.”

“Like leather,” and he stole a quick kiss to her cheek before turning towards the curtained off area.

A vicious shriek seemed to fill the room, a dark brown blur bursting out from the clothing racks and aimed straight for Marinette. The baker girl was swung around, knocking off her balance, before being launched out the still open door, part of her side connecting painfully with the doorknob on the way. Marinette twisted from her sprawl on the floor to see Lila sneering at her before shutting and locking the door.

Adrien glared at the unwanted girl, making sure to keep plenty of distance between them to not allow her a chance to do anything.

“Now, you and I are going to have a nice long chat,” Lila smiling almost maniacally at him, breath short from rushing and throwing Marinette out of the room.

The cat within began scratching at the mental door Adrien had shut on it, yowling to be released. “I have nothing to say to you, nor do you have anything to say that I want to hear.”

The doorknob behind her rattled.

“Oh, you’ll listen to me, or…”

“Or what?” he challenged, the mental door beginning to crack and splinter.

A wild fire swirled in her green eyes. “Or I’ll tell everyone you attacked me. I’ve been working on some very convincing bruises the last few days.”

A hinge on the mental door rattled under the pressure the feline within exerted. “Go ahead. I’ll just have Legal take you to court where the _real_ truth will come out. You seem to forget who you’re trying to threaten, Rossi.”

She blinked at him, surprised that the threat of assault charges didn’t phase him.

Of course!

Why hadn’t she thought of that before?

As an internationally renown model, claims of assault of any kind were probably levelled against him every other day. He and his team knew how to handle those with precision and discretion.

Even with the bruises, no one would believe Adrien attacked her since there was no proof that he ever attacked anyone.

The doorknob rattled again.

Fine, new tactic.

“Then I’ll accuse Dupain-Cheng of blackmail against you.”

She ignored the dangerous flash in his eyes, the increasing glow.

Plagg practically rattled in Adrien’s pocket, trying to distract his Chosen to stop what the little god knew was inevitable.

“I know that little Asian bitch has something on you,” Rossi continued with her new threat, unaware of the level of danger she was now in. “It’s the only reason you could possibly be acting so lovey-dovey around her. Afterall, she a little Chinese nothing compared to me, and I’ve already been telling everyone that we’ve been secretly dating since I arrived in Paris.” 

She pulled out her phone, missing his eyes going Chat for a brief moment, and activated the camera to record him, ignoring the pounding on the door or the knob rattling insistently. 

“You’ll tell the world that she’s just blackmailing you from your time as Chat Blanc, that she’s not your girlfriend, she just threatened to go public with you being less than gentlemanly with her during her captivity. You’ll tell everyone that I was always and ever will be your girlfriend, but that Gabriel told you it would look better for the label if you were seen with _her_ since she’s an aspiring designer, but she really has little talent in the field.”

“I won’t,” he managed, a dangerous growl in his voice.

His fingers began to itch, he could almost feel his nails lengthening to claws.

The pounding on the door became louder.

“You will, or I’ll do it for you, and I can promise you that I will be far less kind and diplomatic than you’ll be.” 

She turned her phone screen to herself, flipping through her media gallery in perverse glee, missing the silent snarl that curled Adrien’s lips, revealing lengthening fangs.

“I have enough video and audio of her to create very compelling recordings that will make everyone believe she’s just after you to advance her own career in fashion, nothing more.”

The mental door splintered some more, and Chat Blanc demanded release. 

Adrien did his best to keep him shuttered.

A failing endeavour.

“I warned her once to just back off and let me have my way or she would end up alone, without any friends, without you. I don’t make threats lightly, so it truly is in your best interest to just break up with her and tell everyone you’ll only ever be with me from now on.”

Wait? 

Rossi had threatened Marinette?

His Princess?

The mental barrier cracked open slightly.

But Adrien had actually stopped fighting against his feral side at this point.

No one threatened his Lady!

Rossi laughed evilly, still scrolling through her phone, casting a look to the door to ensure it was still closed and locked. “I can even go a step further if you want more incentive. Sure, I’ll end up destroying that pretty little boy, Luka, but he’s hardly a concern of mine. Not only can I paint her as a gold digger looking to advance her pathetic attempt into fashion and crush her dreams of ever being a designer, I have enough material to make her into an absolute slut who can’t keep her knees together.”

Whatever barrier remained vanished like pale smoke.

“So, what’s it going to be, Ad—”

She froze when she finally raised her eyes to the teen model, fear gripping her senses, phone dropping out of numbs hands. 

The clothes he had been holding were a forgotten pile on the floor. His golden hair had turned ashen as his complexion had paled. His eyes glowed a dangerous green, bright and menacing at the girl before him, his pupils a narrow feline slit. Human ears had morphed into feline ears closer to the top of his head, sharp claws replacing his nails, sharp fangs bared in a silent snarl.

Unseen behind the teens back, Plagg tugged urgently at Adrien’s shirt, trying to either calm him or stop him, failing miserably at both.

Chat Blanc was back, but without the aid of an akuma.

The door continued to rattle, desperately so.

Lila felt the floor collide with her rear before she even realized her knees had buckled in shocked fear. She scrambled backwards, hitting a wall far sooner than she would have liked to put as much distance between herself and the cat monster glaring at her.

But Lila was, if anything, quick witted.

She could turn any situation to her advantage in a heartbeat.

She was sure she could convince this creature… Adrien… not to attack her.

Afterall, Adrien Agreste was too gentle a soul to hurt anyone… right?

She began to laugh, trying hard to hide the anxiety in her tone, sounding fake even to her own ears.

“O-oh, my god! I-I can’t believe you- you fell for all that,” and she laughed again.

Chat Blanc snarled, unconvinced.

“Y-you really d-didn’t believe I-I was going t-to all that, did you?”

Chat Blanc glared, eyes narrowing.

Lila flinched. “Adrien?”

He howled.

She screamed.

The door to wardrobe launched off it’s hinged from the colossal bodyguard’s frame connecting with it with the full force of his weight. The surprise caused Chat Blanc to pause.

Just behind the bodyguard’s frame, Nathalie and Marinette peered into the room to see what was happening.

Marinette reacted first at the sight of Chat Blanc.

She managed to squeak between the bodyguard and the doorframe, dashing straight for Chat Blanc as this one raised his claws to attack the cowering Rossi. She collided with his chest, knocking him back a step from the force. Marinette’s arms wound tight around his chest, face buried into the crook of his neck.

“Shhh, Kitty,” she whispered. “I’m here, I’m here… I’ve got you…”

Chat Blanc hesitated, his nostrils filling with the familiar scent of bread and soap.

_Her_ scent.

”Marrri…?”

She pulled back slightly to see his gaze had relaxed, the thin slits of his pupils had widened. Relief began to flood her senses, a gentle caress to his cheek a silent reward for regaining control.

“It’s me, Adrien. I’m here.”

He nosed her hair, eyes closing, a purr rumbling low in his throat. “Marrri prrrotect Adrrrien.”

“Always, My Prince.

Seeing her chance now that Chat Blanc was distracted, Rossi leapt to her feet to throw herself at Nathalie, intent on turning the situation in her favour with one of her exaggerated claims. The tears came easily at the Italian girl’s expert bidding.

“Oh, thank god you’re here!” she gushed, hanging on tight to the assistant despite this one’s very concerted attempts to push her away. “He was going to attack me! Marinette told him such horrible things that he got akumatized again! I managed to throw her out of the room to try to calm him down, but he turned on me!”

“That, Miss Rossi, is a blatant lie,” Nathalie stated simply.

Lila gasped in indignation. “I would never lie about this! I saw the akuma myself right after I got Marinette out!”

The assistant finally freed herself from the teens grip and pushed her away. “Hawk Moth’s wings have been clipped. We have learned some particularly important information about him and are using it to keep him from akumatizing anyone in range of his butterflies.”

Lila blinked. “W-what? B-but… I saw the akuma! And Adrien transformed into that… that thing! How else could he do that without an akuma?”

“Residual effect of the last akuma. Since you are such good friends with Ladybug, I suggest you go ask her the details about that particular and special akuma.”

“No! He was akumatized just now! I saw it with my own eyes! How dare you call me a liar!”

“Miss Rossi, look long and hard at what’s occurring right now,” and she forcibly turned the girl to watch the other pair in the room.

Chat Blanc’s form was loose and almost leaning heavily on Dupain-Cheng. Her arms were tight around his chest, practically supporting him. Then, as if a switch had been flicked, Chat Blanc went completely limp and would have dropped heavily to the floor had the baker girl not had a hold on him as she did. The motion to ease him down twisted them both into clearer view.

Rossi had to gasp.

Chat Blanc was gone, replaced by Adrien.

But there had been no release of an akuma from anything on the model.

No Ladybug or Chat Noir to the rescue of an akumatized victim, though how they knew before an alert often went up had always been a mystery. Even when Rossi attempted to blame them for the akumatizations half the time.

The other issue was there were currently too many witness to state that there had been no purple butterfly.

She could barely hear the murmurs from the crowd beyond the door repeating her claim of having seen an akuma, yet there was no proof of one anywhere.

Nathalie snapped her fingers casually and a couple of security guards appeared at Lila’s either side, each grabbing an arm and physically lifting the girl off her feet to prevent her from running away.

“Escort Miss Rossi off the premises,” Nathalie instructed. “I leave the decision up to you as to how far those premises extend to.”

Lila kicked out her legs in every which direction in hoped of hitting these men and getting them to let go, being very vocal and loud in her protests regarding her treatment.

No one paid her any attention, focused on what they could see through the broken door.

Nathalie appeared in the crowd’s line of sight, a stern expression on her face that would have made Gabriel Agreste proud.

“Need I remind any of you that, as employees of Agreste Design, anything you see and anything that happens during photo sessions or modelling events are covered by the non-disclosure agreements you all signed at the beginning of your contracts?”

The murmur from the crowd confirmed they understood what she was implying.

Should any of them breathe even a word of the events that had just transpired to anyone outside the studio at that very moment, they would find themselves both on the unemployment line and blacklisted from ever working in the field again, and be summoned to appear before the courts for the breach of the non-disclosure agreement.

No one wanted to risk either.

“Good.” She turned to the Agreste personal bodyguard. “Simon, a moment of privacy for the room, please.”

He nodded and, when she entered the room, he stood in front of the open door, his frame effectively blocking any sight within.

Nathalie noted Michel and Janine standing off to the side, looking unsure if they should try to help or not interfere with whatever had just happened. She signalled to them to stay where they were, a silent sign to not interfere.

Carefully, the Sanscoeur woman approached Marinette sitting on the ground. Adrien was partially draped across her lap, cheek resting against her belly, completely unconscious. Marinette was threading a hand through the model’s hair, though Nathalie was unsure if the action was to subconsciously continue to keep Adrien calm, or if it was to reassure herself that he was okay.

She knelt next to the pair. “I had seen signs this could happen. I kept seeing his eyes turn cat-like more than once, when he became annoyed or upset,” she told the girl.

“Did he know this could happen?”

Nathalie knew which _he_ she was referring to, but hesitated in answering.

Blue eyes frowned at the women, fixing her in place with an energy that felt oh so ancient and dangerous compared to the image this teen put forward to the world.

“Did he know?”

Marinette bit out each word in a clipped tone, barely keeping her anger at Gabriel Agreste in check.

Nathalie couldn’t blame the girl.

“I don’t think so, no,” she opted to reply. “This was a new akuma he was trying out for the first time.”

“And decided to use his own Son as a guinea pig. Gee, he’s just the epitome of fatherhood.”

“He never intended… It wasn’t supposed to…” She sighed. “There is absolutely nothing I can say to pardon this, I know. All he wanted was to have his family again.”

“He has a family, right here. Did he forget Adrien is his Son?”

“No, he…” She bit her lip, unable to voice her thought.

“No, he just thought he wasn’t as important as his wife,” Marinette finished for her, her tone bitter.

“Everything just got so out of hand.”

“You all lost the right to use that excuse several months ago.”

Nathalie’s hand hovered near Adrien’s hair, not daring to touch him. “Mister Agreste did mention that perhaps the Great Guardian would have insight on how to fix this.”

“It should have never even happened in the first place to be fixed! He makes the mess, but he insists on someone else to do the clean-up.”

Never mind the fact Marinette would never ask Master Fu to reveal himself with Gabriel Agreste around. His activities might have been curtailed for the time being, but exposing the Great Guardian of the Miraculous to Hawk Moth, and possibly Mayura as well, was not something the girl was prepared to do.

Even if it was to help Adrien.

There was just too much at stake, and she knew her partner well enough to know he would have agreed.

“We deserve that.” Nathalie conceded.

“Yes, you do.”

Nathalie winced, but understood she was just as guilty for not having stopped her employer from acting as Gabriel was himself. The anger this girl felt towards her and Gabriel was wholly justified, no matter how you looked at the situation.

“I’ll cancel today’s shoot and we’ll take Adrien back to the Manor,” she stated softly as she stood. “Even if he does wake up soon, he won’t be in any condition to do this session.”

“You take him out of here,” said Michel, he and Janine having quietly listened in to the conversation, confused by the topic, but knowing it was not their place to ask or question. “Janine and I will arrange to shut everything down here.”

Janine tsked softly as she and Michel left the room to start instructing their staff. “Poor boy, the afternoon had announced itself so well for him too.”

“Could I ask you to stay with him, Miss Marinette?” Nathalie asked hesitantly. “You seem to be able to reach him, even back when he was akumatized. He trusts you.”

“For him, not for any of you.”

The Sanscoeur woman thin her lips, but nodded curtly. “Understood.”

The assistant called to the bodyguard, instructing him to carry Adrien back out to the car.

Marinette swallowed hard at how small her partner looked in the large man’s arms. This was her other half, a part of her heart, a part of her very life and soul. Yet there he lay, helpless and unconscious. It tore at every tiny part of her.

Taking their cue from the feel of the situation, the remaining security guards on the set made sure to carve a path through the media still waiting outside.

Predictably, Lila was there, hamming it up for whatever media deigned to give her the fifteen minutes of fame and attention she craved.

Marinette could just barely hear her spinning her yarn about being wrongfully terminated from Agreste Design, and making up some tall tale about why she had been ejected from the building a little earlier. She braced herself, knowing exactly what story she would try to weave the second she saw them leaving.

Sure enough…

“There! You see?” Lila yelled out to the crowd of reporters, pointing to the small group heading for the Agreste sedan. “It’s exactly like I said! He passed out because he fought off being akumatized again by Hawk Moth! I saw the akuma! I was a witness to all those nasty things Dupain-Cheng told him to cause him to be akumatized!”

Marinette felt her spine go stiff and she very nearly turned to the crowd to counter Rossi’s claims, but Nathalie’s hand on her shoulder giving it a gentle squeeze stopped her.

“Ladies and gentlemen of the, ehrem, _Press_ ,” she began and the baker girl just barely suppressed her smirk at the veiled insult the older woman had just levelled. “Agreste Design will be putting out a statement in the morning about today’s events. Until then, I would advise you to consider very carefully your source of a fired and disgruntled employee against whom we have a protection order. Good day.”

The crowd dispersed, satisfied with the knowledge that information would come the next day.

Lila protested to anyone she could reach, clawing at arms, repeating her story over and over in the hopes that someone would pick it up to run with it. It had to make the news, both to bolster her claims and to discredit Dupain-Cheng.

But no seemed to be listening anymore.

Marinette was ushered into the back of the sedan first in order to help the bodyguard ease Adrien’s form onto the backseat. She cradled the model’s head in her lap, threading her fingers through his hair. Assured that the teen girl would make sure Adrien was secure and safe, the assistant and bodyguard took their place in the front and drove off.

Not once during the trip back did Adrien wake.

Plagg huddled just inside Marinette’s collar to remain unseen, keening softly down at his Chosen. The little god had felt the sharp spike of energy when Adrien had changed, and then the complete drop of that same force and then just vanish once he had been sufficiently calmed.

But why had this happened in the first place?

Once back to the Manor, the bodyguard once again carefully picked up his charge to bring him inside, Marinette close on his heels. At the bottom of the Manor’s imposing staircase stood Gabriel waiting anxiously. Nathalie approached her employer as the others headed for the stairs.

“What happened?” the businessman demanded.

“Your special akuma had residual effects,… Sir,” Marinette snapped at him before Nathalie could respond.

And she continued after the bodyguard to Adrien’s room.

There was nothing he could say at the moment. Someone had snapped at him. And not just anyone, but a young girl, one of his Son’s classmates.

He looked to his assistant.

“He changed into the Chat Blanc persona from his akumatization, Sir. You never sent…?”

“No, of course not. My contract with Adrien forbids me. The akuma is still affecting him?”

“It would seem so, Sir. For the last week, I have noticed his eyes would occasionally change during emotional moments.”

“What caused this event?”

“The Rossi girl, Sir. She lied her way onto the set and locked herself in wardrobe with Adrien. I don’t know what she did to him or told him, but when Simon finally managed to break the door down, Adrien had changed into Chat Blanc.”

Gabriel removed his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose in tired frustration. “I am going to regret ever having let her get so close for so long, for as long as I live.”

“None of us knew how conniving she could truly be, Sir.”

“Small comfort.” He put his glasses back on and looked up to his Son’s room. “Did he hurt anyone?”

“No, Sir, Miss Marinette was able to get to him and calm him before he could act.”

He smirked. “Interesting.” Then he blinked at a thought. “She’s not suffering from Stockholm Syndrome, is she? An attachment to my Son from her time as his captive?”

“I have had a chance to observe her since then, Sir. Her attachment is not a psychological break. From what I have learned from her classmates, she had always been fond of Adrien since he started at _Francoise Dupont_.”

“An obsessive fan?”

“Hardly, Sir. From what I’ve been told and observed, she truly does care for Adrien. And he trusts her.”

“It would explain why he kept her close during that week.”

“From what her classmates have reported, Miss Marinette insisted on staying with him, understanding that he was calm when he was around her. He had attempted to attack one of her friends who tried to get her away from him. If it hadn’t been for her calming Chat Blanc, I’m sure the boy would have been severely injured.”

Gabriel pondered this information.

He had no doubt his Son would attract numerous romantic suitors. This was already the case. But all of those had been either drawn only by his looks or the promise of part of the Agreste fortune.

Obviously not Miss Marinette though.

Nor was she trying to use his Son to advance her very promising career in fashion.

This kind of character these days was extremely rare.

Thinking back, he could remember his Son speaking very highly of the girl. In fact, he spoke of her more often than any of his other friends, including that insufferable Lahiffe boy.

The fashion mogul allowed himself a small grin.

He wasn’t adverse to encouraging a burgeoning romance between Adrien and Miss Marinette.

“Give Miss Marinette free access to the Manor. There is a way to reverse this in the Miraculous book. Until I can discover a way to remove all residual effects of my last akuma, we will need her influence on him to prevent another change.”

“Yes, Sir.”

* * *

Marinette carefully supported Adrien’s head as the bodyguard set the teen down on his bed. Adrien sighed in his unconscious state, reacting to the feel of the mattress and pillow beneath him.

“Thank you,” she offered the minder.

He merely offered a curt nod and left, closing the door behind him.

“Plagg, cold washcloth,” she instructed urgently. “Tikki, water bottle from the mini fridge.”

The kwami dashed off to complete their tasks while Marinette watched over her partner.

The god of destructions returned first, handing the cold and wet washcloth to the girl. Marinette sat on the edge of the bed and pressed the cloth gently to Adrien’s brow, down along his cheek, and across his throat. Plagg settled on her shoulder to watch, quiet in worry, Tikki floating off to the side while holding a water bottle in her tiny paws.

“Is he okay?” Plagg finally questioned in the quiet.

“I think so,” Marinette replied. “I think this just drained him, like a real de-akumatization.”

“I don’t understand,” Tikki fretted. “There was no akuma. How could he transform without an akuma? How could this happen?”

Marinette frowned. “Hawk Moth playing with Nooroo’s akuma, that’s how. I already was starting to dislike Mister Agreste for what he was putting Adrien through, but all this…? I don’t want to, but… I hate him. I really, really hate him.”

Plagg hissed softly. “Well, it’s a good thing the kid has a deal with the old man to keep him from akumatizing anyone, or we’d be on purple butterfly lookout right now.”

“We need to talk to Master Fu,” Tikki added. “He has to have something in the book or in his scrolls about this.”

“It’ll have to wait a few days,” Marinette counselled. “With this last event, Adrien will be watched very closely by everyone. We can’t risk anyone following us when we go see him.”

“Then it is good that I came to you,” a new voice announced from near the window.

Marinette whirled around just in time to see a Miraculous transformation drop from the old Master’s form. For a moment, a tiny fear raced up her spine. The last Great Guardian of the Miraculous was here, in the same house as their enemy, Hawk Moth. This was dangerous.

But then, the old man was rather adept at getting in and out of places without being noticed and without drawing attention to himself. He had gotten her and Adrien their Miraculous gems without anyone seeing him, though that might have been his kwami, Wayzz.

She smirked at Fu as he approached. “Doors mean nothing to you, do they?”

He smiled in amusement. “With the number of cameras surrounding this house, it seemed the safer option.” 

“It’s dangerous for you to be here.”

“Only if I’m caught.”

Approaching the other side of the bed, he peered down at the unconscious teen. Closing his eyes, Fu hovered a hand over Adrien’s face and chest, feeling the energies radiating from the teen. Wayzz hovered nearby, eyes also closed, funneling his energies to his Master to help his senses open to the form before him. 

Under layers of calm and control were crashing waves of chaos. It was as if feeling the smooth vibrations of a symphony in completely harmony, and then just beneath that was the cacophony of a school band learning their instruments for the first time.

Fu sighed heavily, hand dropping away and looking over to Marinette.

“His chi is in a state of complete disarray. I felt his akumatization the first time, but I could not find him afterwards.”

The girl smiled fondly. “No one knows the city like Chat Noir.”

“Ah, so you know?”

“And he knows about me. Does… does that mean you’ll be taking our Miraculous?”

Tikki and Plagg floated at her shoulders, staring at Fu in horror at the prospects of losing their Chosen, but remaining quiet. Wayzz remained silent, mirroring a much more subdued reaction than the red and black kwami. He had seen this more than once in the centuries, and in the last century with Fu, he had seen Miraculous gems activated and taken away just as quickly.

It was always emotionally painful.

“Hmm? Oh!” Fu stroked his beard for a moment in thought. “As much as I dislike this situation, that this makes things all the more dangerous to you both… There is no one else I could safely entrust the Miraculous to. You both shall keep your Miraculous.”

The tension bled away from Marinette and Tikki.

“We know who Hawk Moth is!” Plagg suddenly blurted.

This startled Fu, the old man gaping in surprise at the kwami. “What?”

Marinette carefully sponged the wet washcloth against Adrien’s face. “It’s why it’s dangerous for you to be here, and for us to go to you. It’s… it’s Gabriel Agreste.”

Fu fell silent at that.

What could he say?

But he had to know.

“Does Adrien know?”

“Yes.”

“Oh, dear…”

Tikki hesitated, then flew forward a bit. “Master, Adrien’s akuma was purified almost two weeks ago, but just today he… he transformed into his akuma persona. This shouldn’t be possible… should it?”

“No, but I suspect this was not your average akuma, was it?”

“Plagg said it was white,” Marinette supplied.

“That’s right!” the black kwami exclaimed excitedly. “It was really bright white and ol’ Gabe didn’t seem to have complete control over the kid. Adrien said he could feel when he was trying to control him, and he would just run the rooftops then to make sure his Dad couldn’t find him or make him hurt Ladybug.”

“Fascinating…” Fu breathed. “I will have to study the book, if Hawk Moth… Gabriel… created this akuma using his copy of the book, then the answer is there somewhere.”

Marinette looked up for guidance. “Until then?”

“Until then… Your bond with Chat Noir will ground him, so I recommend staying with him as much as is allowed. I’m sorry, you were no doubt hoping for answers right now.”

“No, no, I wasn’t actually hoping for anything today after this. I was wondering how we were going to come see you without Mister Agreste finding out.”

His expression morphed to pure mischief. “Well, then, the next time I come to you both, I shall endeavor to be as sneaky as I can.” This got her to chuckle lightly. “I will try to work quickly, as Hawk Moth no doubt is. I am sorry to cut this visit short, but to stay longer is to tempt Fate. I will contact you both as soon as I learn anything.”

“Thank you, Master.”

With a curt bow, Fu called on Wayzz to transform him again. A final reassuring smile to the girl send Jade Turtle racing to the window, easily leaping out to the roof next door, the Miraculous completely erasing the effects of the man’s advanced age.

Marinette watched him disappear in the distance before returning her attention to her partner. If she hadn’t known about the events from earlier, she could almost imagine he was just asleep. He actually looked peaceful. She trailed the backs of her fingers down the side of Adrien’s face. Silently she wondered what Lila had told him to force enough whatever emotion had gotten him to transform. Once she was sure it wouldn’t trigger him, Marinette might ask him.

Lila didn’t have much leverage against him since being fired and the protection order against her. She had no access to speak to him about anything. She couldn’t model with him anymore to create and image for herself.

And there was the interesting effect everything that had happened had on the class.

Something must have occurred during the time Chat Blanc had kept Marinette away.

The class was less believing of the Italian girl’s claims, less willing to listen.

Had they finally clued in on the truth?

It was about time!

Adrien suddenly inhaled deeply, surfacing from his torpor. Arms stiffened in a feline stretch. Green eyes barely opened, immediately focusing on Marinette. A goofy, sleepy smile spread over his lips.

“Hi,” he greeted.

Marinette had to smile. “Hi,” she returned.

Then, everything came crashing back to the model and he bolted up in bed with a look of panic. Her hands gripped his shoulders to both brace and restrain him.

“Easy, Kitty, you’re home. You’re okay.”

Adrien held up a hand, half expecting to see claws tipping his fingers, but seeing his normal fingers. He ran that same hand through his hair, a nervous gesture while also checking for feline ears on top of his head.

“I… I changed?” he asked.

“You did.”

“I didn’t hurt anyone, did I?”

“No, but I think Lila might re-think trying to provoke you in any way for the next little while.”

“It would’ve been fun to watch you teach her a lesson though,” Plagg admitted. 

“Plagg, we’re heroes!” his counterpart admonished. “We don’t attack people.”

“Even when they deserve it?”

“Even when.” Tikki floated over and handed Adrien the water bottle she had retrieved earlier. “Master Fu was here while you were unconscious.”

“He was? Isn’t that dangerous?”

“Like all of us, he must have felt the danger was well worth the risk,” the little goddess smiled. “He’s researching what your Father did to the akuma to cause all this.”

“My Father is probably researching what he did too,” and he took a long drink from the bottle. “And he has an advantage since he knows where to start in the book.”

Marinette frowned. “I still think it was beyond the lowest of the low for him to have used you as a Guinea pig. What kind of parent uses their child like that?”

“One who also happens to be Hawk Moth.”

Her expression softened at him at his response, moving to sit closer at his side. “I am so sorry you have to go through any of this, My Prince. It’s so not fair.”

He shrugged. “Luck of the black cat.”

“Then I’ll just have to wrap you up in the luck of the ladybug to cancel it out.”

A watery smile touched his lips before he let his head drop to her shoulder. As Ladybug, she had always been his anchor. Just thinking about her strength and spirit made him feel stronger and capable of facing whatever he was presented with. Sometimes, before he knew they were one and the same, those thoughts would morph to Marinette being his inspiration to forge ahead.

And now she was here, with him. His best friend and Lady was also his close classmate and now girlfriend.

He still found it hard to believe that last part.

Marinette’s hand immediately found the back of his head when it rested on her shoulder, threading through his hair. Never in her wildest dreams had she believed that someday she could call Adrien her boyfriend. In a way, she owed Hawk Moth for his last akuma. Had Gabriel not used his Son with his new white butterfly, neither of them would have learned each other’s identity, nor would they have either taken this massive step forward, going from maybe just friends to an actual couple.

But it also made knowing what she did about his civilian home life all that more painful to know. 

Gentle fingers scratched his scalp lightly, both reassuring and soothing. It pulled a soft purr from him.

“We’ll find a way to fix this, Kitty,” she whispered to him. “I promise.”


	8. Chapter 8

Chloé Bourgeois stretched languidly, arms high above her head, as she reclined in one of the plush chairs that adorned her suite at the _Royale Paris_ hotel. It was early for a Sunday, far earlier than she was used to getting up, but Alya Césaire had been more insistent than her usual annoying self.

And she had mentioned this involved Adrien, so of course Chloé was interested.

That was how Alya, accompanied by Nino as always, ended up sitting on the couch across from her.

“So what was so important, and involving my Adri-kins, that you had to wake me up at this ungodly hour on a weekend?” the affluent blonde demanded.

Alya heaved a preparatory breath. “What do you know about Lila? Like, really know.”

Chloé began to smirk. “Oh.”

Nino was both surprised and confused by her reaction. “You know?”

“Lahiffe, I have known since the day she started at our school. No one, not even the family of a Diplomat, could even have a fraction of the fantastic life she was claiming to have. And, if you paid attention to the details, they never quite matched up. Two plus two never added up to four with her.”

“Why didn’t you say anything, then?” Alya posed.

“I was curious to see how far Rossi could drag you along. Also, Marinette was telling all of you what was going on, I felt I didn’t need to. And you call yourself her best friend, honestly!”

Alya curled in on herself, still feeling the shame of having doubted her friend’s word over that of someone who seemed to sprinkle star dust on everything word she spoke.

“I made a lot of mistakes,” she admitted softly. “I’m working on fixing all that.”

“Is this what this is?” asked Chloé.

“I hope so.”

“What clued you in to Rossi’s lies anyway?”

“A few things actually. You know what Luka had told us when he followed Chat Blanc? How he had headed West? Remember what Lila had texted to all of us. She said Chat Blanc was headed East. At first I thought, oh, maybe she just made a mistake with her directions, but…”

“But if she had lived in the African bush for all those months, like she claimed, then cardinal points would be second nature to her no matter where she is,” Chloé completed.

“Right!” Nino exclaimed. “And then there was her lie about being in contact with my boy during the whole Chat Blanc thing, about them talking almost nightly and setting up what she called their first public date.”

Chloé scoffed. “As if my Adri-kins would stoop so low on the social ladder as to date that little viper.”

“But that was also the nail in her coffin she never realized she hammered into place,” the DJ continued. “She told us this after Luka said that Mari told him Chat Blanc was Adrien akumatized.”

The blonde laughed. “Oh, my god! She’s an even bigger idiot than I thought! Can’t even make sure who knows what before spinning a new tale.”

“So it got me thinking then,” Alya took up. “Why would she lie about those two things, especially if she thought we would check.”

Chloé huffed a smirk. “Because she was so sure of her control on the class that she was confident you wouldn’t check.”

Nino took his hat off his head and gave it a guilty twist between his hands. “Yeah, we came to that conclusion too.”

“Reluctantly,” Alya added.

“But we it also got us looking into her other claims. We were able to punch some pretty massive holes in every last one of them.”

Chloé tapped a finger on the chair’s armrest, looking at them both critically. “Did you tell all this to Marinette?”

“A few days after Sunshine came back to class,” said Alya.

“Well, now, our group increases by two.”

“Who else knows?”

“Marinette’s parents, of course. They would believe her over the Pope, but then I know Marinette has never and would never lie to them. She hates liars. And Madame Mendeleiev knows as well since Rossi has never been able to produce an absence note or medical note to try to get out of doing things in her class. My Adri-kins and Marinette, of course, though I’m still trying to figure out how she found out Rossi lies as she breathes. And me, since no one can ever be more glamourous than I can.”

“So how much do you know about Rossi’s lies?”

“I know that nothing she’s told the class is even remotely true. And I know that Adri-kins last restrictions, that probably caused his akumatization, were her fault. You know that photo she posted? Daddy told me that a condition of the protection order against her is she had to delete it from all her social media platforms and devices.”

Nino winced. “Ouch, but smart. Letting her keep it would mean she could try to use it for some sort of blackmail later on.”

“Or a payday by selling it to a tabloid,” Alya added. “Sunshine was not home at the time, right?”

“He was at the Louvre doing a hush-hush photoshoot. You can ask Alix about that, her Father no doubt gave her a warning. Nathniel was with Alix at the Louvre that day. And I know because Adri-kins tells me everything. Rossi probably broke into the house to get that photo, Mister Agreste has had the Manor in lockdown since Aunt Emilie… well… Anyway, Adrien tells me the only times Rossi was allowed at the Manor was not to see him, but to have a meeting with Mister Agreste.”

The teens appeared confused. “Why would she be meeting with Mister Agreste?” Alya voiced.

“Well, up until the protection order was issued, she was his employee. His muse, as he called it, but that is actually so creepy when you think about it. But, in my experience, models do not meet with the CEOs of fashion houses. All business is usually done between models and their agents or designers, or the design staff.”

“So… I repeat the question: Why would she be meeting with Mister Agreste?”

“You found nothing about that in your research?”

She shrugged. “Only like you said: She worked for Agreste Design and Mister Agreste called her his muse. But every comment I found on her few photo spreads actually wonder if Mister Agreste has lost it by hiring her.”

“Well, there are intelligent people on this planet after all. Let me guess: She has no modeling talent? She doesn’t have any unique look? She’s awkward looking in her photos with Adrien? Any of those close?”

Alya merely nodded.

“Mother was the first to call him out with his use of Rossi with Adri-kins. That he ignored her warnings…” She pouted I thought. “Do you think I would be crazy to suggest that using her as a model is just a front for something more?”

Nino clicked his tongue. “A month ago, yeah, that would’ve sounded crazy.”

“But looking back on everything now…” Alya continued. “All the claims involving Adrien and Agreste Design… She knows his schedule better than Marinette, but if Adrien avoided her like he said he did then how would she get that info? Lila would have to be getting it directly from the source.”

“But why would they need her to be where he is all the time?”

“Something I noticed,” Chloé began, leaning forward slightly. “The times Adri-kins went off-schedule, Rossi got herself invited to wherever he was going and then Nathalie would miraculously show up to drag him home.”

Nino blinked rapidly. “Dude! She’s spying on him?”

“And reporting back to Nathalie and Mister Agreste,” Alya concluded in horror.

Chloé nodded slowly, looking off to the side at nothing while her mind replayed all the times she had been a witness to.

“It makes sense, in a scary kind of way. Mister Agreste has always been super protective of Adrien since… And I know he became a lot more anxious when Adri-kins started coming to school, that why his bodyguard stayed parked out in front of the building. Powerful men like him are used to control, to knowing everything about everything around them or than involves them.”

She then leaned back in her seat with a heavy exhale, looking a little defeated.

“But, to use a legal term here, it’s all conjecture.”

“What?” asked Nino.

“An opinion or conclusion formed on the basis of incomplete information,” Alya supplied absently. “And she’s right, we don’t have the full picture here. Did he hire her originally as a spy and the modelling was to be her cover? What did she tell him about all of us or about Adrien to allow it to continue? What did Mister Agreste have on her if she wasn’t willing, or vice versa?”

“Oh, she was willing,” Chloé sniffed with a dismissive wave. “This is the sort of thing I know she would relish in: Using my Adri-kins as a climbing hook to clamber up the social mountain. Mister Agreste probably promised her fame and fortune to do this. Exactly what she wants.”

“Now that Mister Agreste fired her and issued a protection order, all that is gone.”

“Which means she’s dangerous. She’s probably desperate to regain all of it since it was her _carte blanche_ to get into parties and galas, have her face in magazines.” 

The Bourgeois girl paused in thought.

If she were narcissistic to the point of Lila Rossi, what would she be capable of?

Lies could only take a person so far before they started to crumble around you. To solidify any part of the fantasy she created around her, Rossi would need money, something her Mother didn’t have easy access to as a Diplomatic Aide. 

The other option would be to tie herself to those who were rich, famous, and influential. Rossi had gained that for a while with Agreste Design, the ability to get in to any event due to her contract, but not anymore.

What was she capable of?

“I’m worried about Adri-kins,” she admitted, letting her haughty persona fall away.

“You and us both, Dudette. And that extends to Mari.”

“It’s why we’re here, actually,” Alya stated. “We know the truth about her. We can run interference or…”

Chloé noted the cliché pause and decided to humour her. “Or…?”

“Or… we can take her down from her self-constructed pedestal.”

The Mayor’s Daughter chuckled. “See, this? This, I expected from you, Césaire. But you, Lahiffe, you always struck me as being too, I don’t know, soft for this sort of thing.”

He straightened defiantly. “No one hurts my Bro! And knowing all this about Lila and that she’s been going after Mari because our girl knew the truth, nah, I’m not sitting by anymore and just let it happen. She’s hurting my two best friends. Over my dead body!”

“Good, you do have a backbone.” She turned back to the reporter. “Alright, Césaire, I know you already have most of the legwork done on your little plan. And you now need my help to put it into motion. I’m in.”

“You don’t know what we need you to do,” Alya stated, her tone almost cautioning the blonde.

“I don’t need to know. You’re in it to take down Rossi. There’s room for only one Queen Bee in this city and that is and will always be me. Now lay out this plan of yours that only my fabulousness can complete.”

* * *

Juleka Couffaine could hear the guitar notes before she even reached the steps leading to below decks of the family houseboat. The music was melancholic, nothing what she knew they musician playing it usually was.

She smirked. She knew why he was this way, even if he denied it. He had been this way for close to three weeks now, slowly descending deeper and deeper into his moodiness.

Shaking her head, she descended the last of the stairs and entered the room, tossing her bookbag to her bed.

“You know, that whole emo thing you’ve adopted is starting to get old, Luka,” she teased him.

He huffed. “This coming from the Goth?”

A pillow abruptly collided with his face causing his fingers to strike a very off chord on the guitar he had been strumming.

“Ow! Hey!” he protested.

“Well, it got you to stop your chicken plucking that you call a tune.”

He paused, looking down at the instrument. “It’s the song in my heart.”

Juleka snorted. “Emo!”

He frowned at her. “I am not an emo!”

“Okay, then you’re depressed. Not a good look, either way. What gives?”

He swallowed the annoyed growl, frustrated more at himself than his Sister, and set his guitar aside on his bed, leaning back against the wall, smacking his head on the wood panels. To Juleka, it looked at that moment like his heart had been torn out, and suddenly she understood before he even said a word. She had felt that exact same thing before, so many years ago.

He stared ahead of himself. “It’s been three weeks, Jules, and I can’t stop thinking about her.”

There was no mistaking who this her was.

“Marinette,” the girl confirmed.

He nodded, still not looking at his Sister. “I still hear her heart’s song, both when I’m awake and asleep.” He closed his eyes as if hearing the tune. “It’s such a beautiful sound: exciting; mysterious; calming. It’s the kind of song you want to play on repeat because you know you’ll never get tired of hearing it.”

“That sounds heavy, Luka.”

“I know. I know she made it clear that I was never the one she wanted to be with like that, that Adrien still held her heart, but there was a part of me that still hoped that maybe… just maybe…” He looked to his Sister. “Does that make me creepy?”

“Only if you decide to act on it, something I know for a fact you never would, or Mom would beat the tar out of you.”

He chuckled. “Mom raised us right.”

“To her credit. But Marinette has that affect on the people around her, always has. She has this… this glow about her. You’re tingly around her in a good way. No one in our class was immune to it.”

“Yeah?”

“Nathaniel had the biggest crush on her for a while.”

“He’s the artist in your class, right? The redhead?”

“Right, but Mari introduced him to Marc a few months ago and now they’re together. Somehow, she knew they would hit it off, though I think it’s because she recognized they were both creative minds. And Nino had a crush on her too. He even got Adrien to help him out at the time to try to ask her out. Not sure what happened, but Nino ended up asking Alya to be his girlfriend instead.” She sat on the edge of her bed. “Everyone who ever meets her is drawn to her, but they never end up with her or for very long. It’s almost like the Universe had a different plan for her than the rest of us.”

“Different plan?”

“Like… like she was never meant for any of us, you know. At least, not until Adrien showed up. Kim used to joke that Mari fit the stereotypical description of the old maid seamstress. She never seemed to be interested in anyone except fashion and she was going to grow old alone with a cat... or was that a hamster? With a house-full of pets.”

“But that changed when Adrien started in your class?”

“Pretty much. And what we got from him is he had only ever been around Chloé for most of his life, but he wasn’t interested in her as she wanted him to be. Nino told us once that Adrien said he saw her as his Sister. And Adrien made it very clear he wasn’t even remotely interested in Lila each time she tried to latch onto him or when she would try to tell us she was dating him. Those two never added up.”

Luka almost winced at a thought. “But then he met Marinette on his first day.”

She nodded. “And I think he was clueless about what he felt for her all this time. All that homeschooling… He never made a move. Oh, sure, he was nice to her and complimented her and he trusts her over anyone else, but I don’t think he knew how he really felt.”

“She kept trying so hard to make him notice her.”

“Little realizing that he did notice her. Hard not to miss our Marinette.”

He smiled sadly. “That’s very true. But it took him being akumatized to realize how he felt.”

“Might have opened his eyes, I’m sure he already knew how he felt. It’s not all fresh right after, but the memories of what you did do come back when Ladybug de-akumatizes you.”

He took a deep breath, looking at his hands. “Is it bad that part of me wished that it would have pushed them apart? That she would have seen he wasn’t as perfect as she thinks he is?”

“Nah, just makes you one of us normal mortals. And she knows he’s not perfect.”

“There was a time when she didn’t want to chase after him anymore.”

“Yeah… The time you went skating together. She wanted to give him up when he started showing an interest in Kagami Tsurugi. That’s just how Mari is, if she thought he would be happier with Kagami, she would give him up in an instant. It was why we were all here that day, Alya had called a kind of war room to find a way to get Adrien’s attention back on Marinette.” She chuckled. “Alya wanted them to be together so badly that she was willing to do anything short of murder to make it happen.”

“Was murder your idea?”

“Kidnapping, actually.”

“Ah.”

She shrugged. “But no one thought it was a good idea.”

He smirked slightly. “So, your friends as sane after all.”

Juleka chuckled. “For the most part. They were still willing to do some pretty drastic stuff to break Adrien and Kagami apart. I don’t think any of them believed Lila when she said they were together either. But, back to your problem, as much as it hurts for you to hear it, I don’t really think you were ever going to be with Marinette. At least, not for long.”

He sighed and banged his head gently on the wall behind him. “I knew that from the sound of their heart songs. They were just so much in sync, so much in harmony… Like…”

“Like they were made for each other.”

He looked away to hide his wince. “Yeah.”

She gave him a sympathetic smile before walking over to his bed to sit close to his side. “Remember when I started at _Francoise Dupont_ and met Rose for the first time?”

He chuckled lightly. “She was this tiny pink and blonde frilly thing that looked like she was going to break if you touched her wrong. Your complete opposite.”

“Remember what I told you after the first week or meeting her?”

“That you met the girl of your dreams and wanted to spend the rest of your life with her. Mom and I thought you were crazy. Dark as you were, being with little miss bubble gum? Besides, you were with that other little Goth… what was her name?”

“Sheryl.”

“You’d been friends with her since you were kids, and both came out to each other before announcing to both our families that you would someday get married.”

“I did like her a lot, but as we grew a little older, I realized that _like_ never changed to anything more. I think Sheryl felt that since she started pulling away and hanging out with her other friends.”

“Mom and I noticed. We were sure you were going to hate each other before the end of the semester.”

“And you were right. I don’t even remember what it was about or who started it, but right before Christmas break we had a horrible fight.”

“You came home a crying mess. Took all out threats from Mom to get you to eat during break.”

“But you know what? That’s when I met Rose. She didn’t talk to me like I was the scary Goth kid. She was actually worried about me. No one ever made me feel good about myself the way Rose did. That’s when I started to see that Sheryl and I had drifted too far apart during that first semester. We weren’t even really friends anymore, no matter how much I tried to cling to it.” 

“Not that I don’t appreciate this trip down memory lane, but is there a point to all this?”

She rested her cheek to her Brother’s shoulder. “My point is we often meet people who we think, _this is it, this person is who I’ll be with forever_. And you’ll want to fight tooth and nail to keep that relationship no matter what because it’s what you’re used to. It’s warm and cozy, and you really thought this was what you wanted.”

“I sense a but.”

She smirked. “But…,” she confirmed. “Sometimes that first crush or sweetheart isn’t your forever. Sometimes they just end up being the means to finding the person who is your real other half. It’ll hurt, it always does when you give a part of your heart to someone thinking that’s your forever, but the hurt does go away when you finally meet the one you’re meant to be with.”

He stared ahead at the other wall for a moment, mulling her words. Juleka was right. It was another was of saying, _when one door closes, another one opens_ , but it was right.

He looked down at the top of her head. “When did you get so smart?”

She grinned up at him impishly. “About the same time you became emo.”

And a pillow whacked her in the face.

* * *

Marinette’s thumb tip was firmly wedged between her teeth as she stared nervously at her take-out cup of coffee, eyes tracing the light embossing on the outside of the cup. Adrien sat across from her at a small bistro table with his own drink. She could feel his eyes on her. Just out of what would have been normal earshot, she could just hear a number of high-speed cameras capturing photo upon photo of her outing with Adrien… again.

She had to smirk. 

Had she been just an ordinary girl, she would have never noticed them, but she wasn’t just an ordinary girl.

She was Ladybug.

Those photographers thought they were being so sneaky, hiding around corners or behind newspapers and plants. It was like something out of a badly scripted cartoon meant for the very young, the ones where disassociating with reality was a must for the story to even work. 

Every time she had gone somewhere in public with Adrien, these photographers had followed. Be it a casual walk through the city streets, lazy window-shopping trips or running an errand to a fabric shop, or even a trip to the library or museum for a class project, these paparazzi were there. As if the thick sunglasses or the bulk of their cameras badly hidden under a jacket could make them inconspicuous. Whether it was to capture a possible re-transformation into Chat Blanc or just because anything Agreste meant public interest, and therefore guaranteed sales of the photos, Marinette was not going to even try to speculate.

She knew they were there and could easily ignore them.

All she wanted was to enjoy her outings with Adrien.

But their presence wasn’t what had her nervous, leg bouncing rapidly in a subconscious twitch. This particular outing had a purpose, one that tied her insides into a knot. From the corner of her eyes, Marinette could see Adrien smiling at her, and then he chuckled.

Blue eyes trained on him. “What?”

“Well, either you’re very nervous right now, or Paris is having a long minor earthquake,” and his hand reached over to settle on her knee to still her leg.

She blinked, not having realized she had the twitch. “Oh… I… I guess I’m a little bit nervous.”

“A little bit?” he teased gently.

She hunched her shoulders. “Okay, a lot. It’s just… I don’t want to hurt her with this.”

“You won’t.”

“You keep saying that, but…” Marinette played with the lid of her cup. “You know I can’t help but worry. She’s my friend.”

Adrien laid a hand on hers in comfort. “It’ll be okay, I promise.”

She turned her hand over to let her fingers twine with his, finding reassurance in his grip. The simple contact was often enough to quash her raging nerves. She had a horrible sensation that this was going to be an exceedingly difficult conversation, but she was glad she wasn’t having it without her partner at her side.

She might have been his calming influence, but he was her rock as well.

“Marinette-chan! Adrien-chan!” a voice called to them in greeting.

Looking up, the pair found Tsurugi Kagami heading towards them, a small, reserved smile on her face as she walked confidently through the light crowd on the sidewalk. The hidden Heroes of Paris stood as she neared, greeting their friend warmly before indicating the last empty chair at the table. Marinette heard another set of photos being taken by the not-quite hidden paparazzi.

Silently she wondered if Kagami knew they were there.

Knowing how observant the girl was, she probably did.

“I am happy to see you both, _tomodachi_ ,” she greeted, signalling to a server to order herself a drink. Then, when the server left, “It has been far too long since we were last together.”

“There was a lot going on lately,” Adrien agreed.

“Hai, I heard about your akumatization in Chat Blanc from your class when they decided to _hunt_ for you. And Alya texted me with the news that it was not an akumatized Chat Noir, but you, Adrien-chan. Are you well now?”

“Yes, and no.” At her confused expression, waiting just long enough for the server to leave again after bringing her drink, “I am… not completely free of the akuma’s effects. I have occasional set-backs.”

She looked genuinely concerned. “How is that possible? Ladybug’s cure is supposed to remove all of the akuma’s influence on a person.”

Marinette hesitated, formulating her words carefully. “We found out… from Ladybug that, um, Hawk Moth was experimenting with a new kind of akuma, a white one instead of the usual dark ones. We think… No, actually, we know he had no idea what he was doing and screwed up. Even after the Cure, this white akuma is still affecting Adrien.”

“I almost changed again,” Adrien continued. “If it wasn’t for Marinette... I get mad or frustrated or overwhelmed and I start to change into Chat Blanc. I never changed completely, but I’ve come close.”

Kagami cocked her head curiously. “ _Start_ to change?”

“My eyes will go feline or I’ll grow cat ears or claws.” Adrien gripped Marinette’s hand again and gently kissed the back of her fingers. “I’ve been keeping Marinette close. She knows how to ground me.”

The fencer girl looked at both of them critically, noting the boy’s enamoured expression towards Marinette, and the baker girl’s nervous glances towards Kagami at the boy’s attention. She began to smile ever so slowly, realization settling in.

“Ah, I understand,” and she took a slow sip from her tea.

There was amusement in her voice that confused Marinette.

“You… you’re not mad?” the baker girl asked her.

Kagami chuckled low. “About what, Marinette-chan?”

Marinette blinked.

Oh!

She knew, but she was going to make her say it out loud.

She and Adrien had talked about it to each other when it was just them and the kwami. They told each other that they loved each other every day, but never when anyone else was around. 

At least, not yet.

Did Kagami know this somehow?

It really shouldn’t have surprised her that this could be the case.

Alright, then.

“You’re not mad that Adrien and I are dating?”

And just like that, she felt the weight of this perceived secret just floating away.

“Not at all, Marinette-chan,” Kagami confirmed with a laugh in her voice. “Adrien-chan and I actually decided a few weeks into our attempt at a relationship that, while we had much in common, we just did not feel… what is that term? Ah, yes, _the spark_. We both came to the conclusion that we were meant to be good friends, but it would most likely never progress further. I cannot say that I was not disappointed, but it was a relief to know that we both saw that pushing ourselves into this relationship would not work. At that point, I started actively hoping this meant he would start pursuing you.”

“Me? Really?” Her nose scrunched. “Wait, a few weeks into your relationship? You’ve been rooting for us to be together for months?”

“Hai.”

“But we were never… I mean… He didn’t… He never…” She looked to Adrien. “Did you…?”

He smiled in that gentle and shy way that left her feeling like a pile of mush. “It was always you, even when I didn’t know it.”

The blush came hard and fast over her cheeks, burying her face in her hands.

“ _Sumūzuna washa_ , Adrien-chan,” Kagami accused the model with a chuckle. “But, to go back to the previous conversation, you said when you get mad or frustrated or overwhelmed that you start to change.”

He nodded slowly. “It was small at first. Father would change my schedule without telling me, I would try to focus on homework, but Nathalie would decide that the moment was perfect to go over my obligations for the next week… Little things. But the last incident almost got out of hand at my last photo shoot.”

“What happened?” she questioned as Marinette’s hands lowered from her face.

He scowled. “Rossi,” he growled in distaste.

“Ah, _usotsuki dokuhebi_ … the lying viper.”

“She lied to get on the set, and she tried to corner me to blackmail me into breaking up with Marinette.”

Marinette reached over to grip one of his hands firmly. 

Kagami pursed her lips at this news, frowning in thought.

“Legalities seem to mean very little to her,” she concluded. “Mother learned about the protection order from your Father and she has informed me. This makes Rossi a dangerous element if she is willing to risk so much merely for her social climb.”

“We think Alya might be planning something to finally expose her lies and nature,” Marinette voiced. “For the last few weeks she’s been nose to screen of any computer she can get to doing some sort of research, but I keep seeing Lila’s name when I get a peek over her shoulder.”

“She will not tell you?”

Adrien laughed, but there was no real humour behind it. “She thinks she’s protecting us, like we can’t fight back.”

“We haven’t really given her any reason to believe otherwise.”

“True,” he agreed with his partner reluctantly. “And I haven’t really proven that I have a backbone in all this.”

“I blame your Father.”

This time there was mirth in his chuckle. “Something else to add to your growing list of things to hate about him?”

“I’m going to start needing a binder soon.”

“I would like to see this list and compare it to my own,” Kagami quipped. She reached over and took a hand each in her own, giving them a squeeze. “ _Tomodachi_ , I have very few people I would call or consider friends in this city, so you are both very precious to me. If I can be of any assistance: with avoiding stressors; or with seeking vengeance against the Rossi girl, _onegai_ , let me know.”

“We’ll keep that in mind.”

* * *

Lila fought hard with her desire to skip or prance down the sidewalk towards the school.

She had a very productive weekend sending a near barrage of emails to every news and media outlet she had access to with her own special twist on the story of her being fired by Agreste Design.

It had been so easy to rope in those outlets.

And she was rather proud of her tale.

She was a poor teenager from a humble family, Daughter to a single Mother working hard at the Italian Embassy.

Agreste Design had approached her and convinced her to sign a contract without parental or legal advice, using her _unique_ look in order to sell Agreste label designs.

The fashion mogul had used her to bolster interest in Adrien, making him desirable to young ladies by being less attainable.

Using her as a sex symbol to young men to make them want the clothing she helped sell, making them believe those items would attract girls like her to them.

And when the sale numbers dipped even slightly, as sales often did on a whim, she was tossed aside and her contract cancelled, again without parental or legal advice as to a recourse.

They had ruined her reputation with lies of her being nothing more than a social climber looking to build herself into something she wasn’t.

They claimed she was obsessed with fame and with having Adrien at her side.

She had to chuckle to herself.

How easy it had all been to frame all these truths into lies coming from the Agreste camp.

Getting a comment from the Agreste household to counter any of her claims was difficult at best, the Agrestes being more demonstrative than vocal. This was something Lila had learned early in her research of that family and used to her advantage.

So until they put out a public statement, which would be unlikely at best in her opinion, she could spin any story she wanted with impunity and no one would have any other source but her to confirm them.

By mid-week, there would be a number of articles out framing her as a purely innocent victim.

From there, the Agreste fall would be assured, and her climb to fame would be locked in.

Now she just had to ensure her Mother didn’t know anything about these plans to risk ruining them.

She had to curse the lawyers at Agreste Design for having been so diligent with issuing the protection order. A copy had been sent to the school and the school board, but also her home and the Italian Embassy. And they had insisted on a signature on receipt and the person signing had to prove they were the targeted recipient.

That had been a wrinkle to the weekend… slightly.

She had been in her room when the package had been delivered to their apartment. Lila vaguely remembered hearing the doorbell, but hadn’t thought more about it. She certainly hadn’t thought it was a courier delivering the protection order. In her mind, it was coming through regular mail.

So, when her Mother had appeared in the doorway to her room with those papers in hand and a look of angered shock on her face, Lila knew instantly that she had read those charges.

Lila had been proud of herself for how quickly she had come up with a very convincing story to her Mother to explain away the existence of these papers and the accusations against her.

She spun a tale about how her boyfriend, Adrien Agreste, was being coerced and blackmailed by family, employees of Agreste Design, and friends to break it off with her due to faltering sales numbers from their relationship. 

Not too different that what she had told the media.

What had differed was the story about her employment with Agreste Design. Her Mother didn’t know about her pseudo contract that has been agreed upon between Lila and Gabriel Agreste.

She claimed that she had joined Adrien on some of his photo sessions and, the photographer liking her look, had insisted she pose with the boy for several pictures. This, she told her Mother, was the employment that was being mentioned. She hadn’t gotten paid for those pictures and it was a formality in this protection order to prevent her from ever being anywhere near another photo shoot. 

In actuality, she had gotten paid, handsomely as well due to her side job of spying on Adrien’s daily life away from home and work, but she wasn’t going to tell her Mother that she had falsified her name on a contract since Lila was a minor and couldn’t legally sign.

She also wasn’t about to tell her Mother she had gone to the photo shoot that weekend in an attempt to continue making her presence known in the fashion world.

It was in direct contradiction to the orders in the protection order and risked getting Lila charged or even arrested.

But so long as no one told her Mother the truth, Lila could continue doing everything she wanted without risk.

Her Mother was just so trusting and so stupid.

Daintily Rossi climbed the stairs to _Francoise Dupont_ , entering the doors like some Queen entering her court.

Not far from the truth.

Nearly all the students, and even the teachers and staff, took her at her word, allowing her to rule without any of them noticing they were being used.

Well, except for Bustier’s class.

Since the issuance of the protection order against her, and her firing from Agreste Design, and the fact that these things had to be announced to the class to ensure the legal nuances – not to mention Chloé Bourgeois couldn’t keep her mouth shut the first day of the protection order – her ability to charm that class and the teacher had waned considerably.

The students from Bustier’s class that were in the courtyard glanced at her warily now, not offering any greetings as they continued conversations she was not being invited into.

Lila allowed herself a slight frown. 

This would not do.

To have a chance at influencing them back into her fold, she needed to know what they were talking about. Without that, she had not control over them.

At least her influence still held strong amongst the lower classmen.

A few of those students from _sixième_ and _cinquième_ that she still held sway over raced up to her, smiling at her in a way that said they were anxiously awaiting the latest news from someone they believed was simply amazing and could do no wrong.

Rossi didn’t remember any of their names, but she didn’t need to. These peons would worship her regardless, or at least until absolute proof was offered that Lila was a fake.

Something she would never allow to happen, easily in any case.

“Oh, hello, all of you!” she greeted the group, putting on her best expression of grateful glee. “You’re all so kind to come say good morning! My class seems to be buying into the lies Agreste Design has been spreading about me. I’m sorry I didn’t upkeep my posts online, but it seems I’ve been locked out of the Ladyblog for some odd reason.”

Actually, Lila felt the reason wasn’t all that strange if Alya had learned something. 

She would have to investigate that.

“And I don’t know if I would have been able to post much to begin with,” she continued. “I was called out to Geneva on Saturday morning to help iron out the details of my environmental initiatives to implement across Europe. It took all weekend.”

The younger students cooed in awe, chattering speculations among themselves as to what and when news would break of her projects. Lila took advantage of the moment to cast her gaze across the courtyard to see who of her class had arrived.

The oversized oaf and his plump girlfriend were conversing with the lanky goth girl and that impressionable and gullible little blonde. Rossi grinned. She was certain those four still believed her, for the most part. Less so the Couffaine girl for some reason, no doubt something to do with her older Brother, but it didn’t matter so long as naïve Rose was still under her sway. Juleka would go along with anything sweet Rose was interested in.

And Ivan was just a lumbering idiot who was so overly soft with his mouse of a girlfriend, Mylène.

The class jock and the skater girl were probably daring each other to do some stunt while the one who was supposed to be the class brain was trying to talk them out of it by spouting all those useless facts he kept stored in that socially inept mind of his. How he could have possibly believed a napkin could have blinded him through his glasses was laughable at best. He might have been book smart, but street smart he was not. But her control over those three was tenuous these days.

The quiet cartoonist was huddled in a corner with that guy… girl?... whatever! Their drawings and stories were cute, but so Ladybug centered it made Lila sick. Gentle prodding was slowly convincing them to try a real-life story. Her own life as a comic book, geeks everywhere fawning over her concocted life, it had a certain appeal to it. They seemed open to the idea at first, but that interest seemed to be waning. Nathaniel had been almost dismissive the last time she had suggested it.

What worried Lila the most was Alya and Nino standing with the Bourgeois girl and this one’s lackey. They were showing each other things on their phones and tablets, making comments and perhaps even suggestions, none of which Lila could hear or see. They were far too civil with each other than Rossi knew them to be. 

What were they discussing?

But nowhere did she see Dupain-Cheng or Adrien.

In her mind, she still had a chance to win the Agreste boy, but to do that she needed him to be present. 

She needed him to notice her, even in the most subtle of ways.

And if he started paying attention to her, willingly or not, it would break Dupain-Cheng.

“You know, I would really need to discuss a few things with my sweet Adrien, but I don’t see him here,” she lamented to the younger students, playing the card that these students still believed the tale that she was secretly dating the Agreste model and it was the corporate world trying to keep them apart. “He’s usually one of the first ones here, so we can have a few quiet and quick moments together away from his Father’s spies. I don’t suppose any of you would know where he is this morning?”

One of the boys seemed to shrink on himself slightly. “Um, I saw his car drop him off at the bakery across the street earlier.”

She fought against the urge to narrow her eyes at this child. 

There was no mistaking which bakery this was and why Adrien was there, but these children were so naïve.

She put on her most innocently surprised face, forcing as much indignation into her voice.

“Oh? But he’s on a very strict diet for his modelling career. I don’t need it since I’m a natural at keeping my form. But all those sweets and pastries are such a horrible source of carbs and empty calories. Why ever would he go to a bakery and possibly ruin his physique and career?”

“Maybe he was getting something for his bodyguard?” one student suggested. “You know, butter him up to allow him to sneak away to hang out with you?”

She resisted the urge to laugh at the gullibility of these students.

Such sweet, trusting innocence.

“What that the bodyguard was so easy to convince with a baked good,” she bemoaned.

“Even if it’s the city’s best? The Dupain-Cheng bakery is the top of all of Paris.”

“I don’t know about it being the city’s best,” Lila scoffed. “I mean, last time I was allowed in there I saw signs of rodents.”

“My Mom is actually a health inspector with the city,” one girl spoke up, and Lila felt a sense of annoyed anger stir in the pit of her stomach. “She says all food establishments are inspected every month. I asked her about the Dupain-Cheng bakery last time you told us about seeing rats, but she said they always pass with flying colors.”

“Maybe they bribe the inspector?” another student asked.

“You can’t bribe my Mom and she did the inspection from February to September this year.”

Rossi resisting disparaging the work of the inspector, knowing that insulting this one’s Mother would start to push the last of her entourage away. 

She couldn’t risk that. 

She needed accolades, she needed followers.

“All that aside,” another girl began. “Why would a model on a strict diet be doing in a bakery?”

“I mean, we could always ask him,” another suggested. “There he is now,” and the boy indicated the school’s main entrance.

Sure enough, the blond model was just entering the school, hand-in-hand with Dupain-Cheng, both laughing about something. 

Rossi wanted to scream.

Of course, Dupain-Cheng would flaunt her relationship with Adrien in Lila’s face.

Of course, she would ensure everyone saw that she and Adrien were happy together.

She was sure that this was what it was. After all, this would have been something Lila would have done.

But Lila knew there had to be something that Dupain-Cheng was using on Adrien to keep this control on him.

There had to be!

No one just jumped into such a close relationship as they did without some sort of blackmail to force it.

What was it that Dupain-Cheng had on the boy?

And how could she learn it to use to her benefit?

Even more frustrating was the fact the protection order prevented her from publicly asking the pair, making it difficult for them to just walk away without answering if there was a crowd watching. With it in place, if there was a crowd watching, she risked having someone in the know calling the authorities.

Bad enough she already had her first warning from the whole photo session debacle. It hadn’t reached her Mother so that was a plus.

Luckily, these lower classmen would do her work for her, and without prompting.

“What’s he doing with Marinette?” one girl asked.

“Looks like he’s holding her hand,” another responded plainly.

“I know that! But why? He’s Lila’s boyfriend, right?”

One of the larger lower classmen, possibly a relation to Ivan Bruel from his comparable size, squared his shoulders as he came to a decision.

“You know what? I’m going to get to the bottom of this once and for all.”

Lila smiled evilly, making sure none of her entourage saw.

This would be so good to watch.

* * *

“I really can’t thank your Mother enough for offering to help me with guided meditations,” Adrien praised as the walked up to the school. “You don’t know how much that means to me.”

Marinette smiled at him gently, giving his hand a squeeze. “I think I have an idea of how much. Plagg told me you tried meditating on your own in the past.”

“And failed each time,” he admitted.

“Only because learning it off the internet is nothing like having someone with experience walking you through it. Mama has been meditating since she was a little girl, with her own Mom.”

“It should help keep me from having an _incident_ until either Father or Master Fu find a solution.”

“If anything, it’ll be a good excuse to keep you away from that house.”

He returned the smile as they climbed the school’s steps. “Always a good thing.”

“You know you could have come talk to me. Either side of me.”

He shrugged a little sadly. “I didn’t know I was allowed. Father used to always tell me it that to show any kind of emotion was a sign of weakness, and weakness was _unbecoming of an Agreste_.”

Marinette snorted. “Says the terrorist using other people’s emotions for his own means.”

“Hypocritical, I know.”

“And he is not a topic worth talking about. I wish I had known what my Kitty was telling Ladybug me was what Adrien was going through, I would’ve…” 

“Would’ve what?”

“I don’t know, but I would’ve found something to try to fix it.” She bit her bottom lip in momentary debate, her steps slowing just slightly. “I’ve been giving your suggestion some serious thought.”

“I have a lot of good suggestions, you’ll have to narrow it down a little,” he grinned impishly.

She chuckled lightly. “The one about going on a vacation.”

He blinked, his expression melting into surprise. “Oh?”

“Yeah. You were right that we really need one. And while Hawk Moth’s wings are effectively clipped…” She sighed. “I can’t remember the last time I went on an actual vacation.”

“Neither can I. There are pictures though, with Mom, of being… somewhere.”

She saw the distant look in his eyes as he searched his memories of that one moment in his past, barely noticing as they entered the school’s courtyard. It was sad to think that this was such a distant memory of happier times with his Mother that it was difficult for him to remember it.

Marinette squared her shoulders, a determined look settling on her face. “Well, that settles it. If neither of can remember our last vacation, we really need one.”

He smiled at her tenderly, all adoration in his eyes. “A real vacation?”

“A real vacation, anywhere you want to go for however long we want. Just us.”

“Just us? You and me?”

“Well, with our kawmi, of course. But, yes.”

“Anywhere in the world?”

“Absolutely anywhere.”

He dropped her hand to wrap his arm around her shoulders, tugging her close to his side and burying his face in her hair. “Have I told you how much I love you?”

A pleasant thrill skittered over her skin. “Since arriving at the house this morning, about seven times now.”

“Good, I would hate to think I wasn’t being a good boyfriend.”

She chuckled. “You are a good boyfriend,” she confirmed, feeling enjoyably warm all over, her cheeks pinking. “The absolute best.”

An imposing form in front of them caused them to stop, half expecting a wall or column has appeared in their path. Both looked up at the scowling face of someone with familiar features to one of their classmates.

“You know, I kept hearing stories about models being players and womanizers,” the large boy ground. “To hear Lila talk, I thought you were different. But you’re a two-timer just like the rest of them.”

The hidden heroes blinked at the accusation.

“Anton, what--?” Marinette began.

“I don’t want to hear anything from you, bitch!” Anton snapped, shoving her away.

Suddenly he was twisted away from the pair and bent over facing the ground, his arm bent at a painful angle behind his back from Adrien’s grasp. No one had even seen the model move. His green eyes were almost feline as he glowered at the squirming boy he restrained.

“No one insults Marinette,” he ground low and menacingly. “And if you so much as _look_ at her wrong ever again, your arm is mine,” and he gave the arm an extra twist for good measure.

Ivan appeared before the group to add his disapproving stare at the restrained boy. He then offered a friendly and slightly conspiratory smile at Adrien.

“You can let him go, I got this.”

Adrien hesitated for a heartbeat, unsure if they would gang up on him or if Ivan had a plan, and then released Anton, giving Ivan the benefit of the doubt. Anton turned on the larger boy with a daring glare, rubbing feeling back into his twisted shoulder.

“You try anything, and I’ll just tell Dad,” he dared his older Brother. “You don’t scare me.”

Ivan huffed. “Me? I’m not the one you should be worried about right now.”

A tiny hand abruptly snagged Anton’s ear and gave a harsh twist, forcing him to lean down at a very awkward angle or risk having his ear ripped off by Mylène. Fury was in her eyes as she glared at the younger boy.

“Let’s go have a conversation about respecting ladies and not accusing people without the full story, shall we?” 

It wasn’t really a question, more like a command, and her tone let him know that this was not up for discussion. Anton would have to have this conversation with the stocky girl pinching his ear whether he wanted to or not. Mylène gave his ear an extra twist for good measure, forcing Anton to follow her every move as she turned away from her friends and walked the younger boy away towards a corner of the courtyard.

“Anton is terrified of Mylène ever since he inadvertently insulted her and she chewed him out for him, all in front of Dad who just let her,” Ivan smirked as he watched his little Brother squirming under what looked like a strict scolding from Mylène, her grip still firm on this one’s ear. “Dad was just smiling all the way through it. I think he’s just proud I found a girl who can stand up for herself.”

The Bruel boy turned to his classmates, his expression dropping to one of concern. Adrien had closed his eyes, face tipped down slightly, as he took deep and calming breaths. Marinette’s hand was firmly nestled in his hand, her free hand sliding along the length of his arm in a soothing motion.

“You okay, Adrien?” Ivan questioned carefully.

The model’s eyes opened slowly, blinking at something unseen for moment, before nodding up to the gentle giant.

“I’m okay, Ivan, thanks.”

“What was Anton’s problem with you two?”

Marinette shot a quick glance to a group of younger students clamouring around Lila off to the side of the courtyard, all except the Rossi girl seeming shocked and surprised at the turn of events.

“I have an idea,” the baker girl stated. “The viper queen is holding court.”

A slight scowl knitted Ivan’s brows in understanding. “She still has a bunch of the younger classes wrapped around her finger. Dad told Anton he doesn’t want to hear anything Rossi claims to have done until he meets her parents himself to confirm everything. Besides, what Anton was telling us contradicted a lot of the stuff she told our class in the past, so it wasn’t hard to see what she was doing.”

“But you never said anything.”

“I saw how she twisted her stories to suit whatever you used to counter her. Mylène also told me about all the times she tried to make you out to be the bully. I know you’re not a bully. You wouldn’t do everything you do for all of us if you were a bully like Rossi claims you are.” His expression dropped. “I’m sorry none of us stood up for you. I knew, and I didn’t do or say anything. And I have to think the others knew too, deep down, on some level.”

Marinette smiled at him gently. “She’s good at making people feel guilty for questioning her.”

“Well, for me, and for Mylène, I want to apologize for just standing by.”

“That means a lot, Ivan, thank you.”

“And Adrien, I’m sorry I was more willing to take Rossi’s claims over your word. I know you more than her, you’re a bandmate, and you’re like Marinette: always willing to put the rest of us first. I should have known better than to believe her over you.”

“Maybe you should have,” Adrien began. “But it’s like Marinette said, Rossi is good at saying just the right things to make you doubt yourself. I’m just glad our friends are finally seeing the truth. The real truth.”

He started to fidget for a moment. “Hey, um… I didn’t want to say anything so Mylène wouldn’t freak out, but… um… Your eyes changed when you were holding Anton’s arm.”

Adrien sighed. “They looked like cat’s eyes.”

“Yeah… so, this isn’t a surprise?”

“Hawk Moth’s akuma was different this time around,” Marinette informed. “Adrien is still going through side effects. So long as he stays calm, everything is fine…”

“But rile him up,” Ivan completed, realization clear in his mind. “You know you’re taking a risk coming to school then. Rossi finds out how to trigger you, she will do everything possible to get you to change to make herself a victim. She’s been out to discredit you, your Dad, the company ever since she told all of us about her firing and the protection order.”

Adrien huffed, a displeased and annoyed expression settling on his face. “Of course she would try to use this to her advantage.”

“Easy, Kitty,” Marinette soothed.

He closed his eyes and focused on his breathing.

She was right, he couldn’t allow himself to get overly irritated by something Lila would patently fail at anyway, it was just a matter of time.

“You say the word and the class has your back, Adrien,” Ivan stated softly, knowing to keep his tone even and low to promote calm. “Anyone tries anything and we’ll take care of it.”

Adrien offered a smile in gratitude to which Ivan nodded in return before moving to where his little brother was sinking into the ground under the tongue lashing offered by Mylène whose anger had not seemed to have abated. The model had to chuckle at the sight of these two teens towering over the girl, yet Ivan was smiling proudly and amused, while Anton looked like he wanted to be anywhere but there.

“She acts all timid, but she is fierce when she wants to be,” he marveled.

“It’s usually the quiet ones you have to worry about,” Marinette agreed. She peered into Adrien’s face, carefully scrutinizing his features. “You’re sure you’re okay with coming to school after this weekend? I mean, no one would dare say anything if you decided to call in a sick day or two.”

“I’m fine, My Lady,” he smiled at her. “Besides, being home would mean being away from you,” he near cooed as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders again to tug her close to his side.

She smirked at him and, in that moment, he saw as much Ladybug at his side as Marinette. 

How could he have been so blind for so long?

“Needy kitty,” she accused.

A heavy weight abruptly settled itself on Adrien’s shoulders as Nino bonelessly draped himself on his friend’s shoulders.

“Alya wants to know what Ivan said so she can beat a holy terror into him,” the DJ voiced.

Adrien chuckled. “You can tell Alya everything is good. Ivan was just throwing his and Mylène’s support into our camp.”

“Awesome, Dude.”

“So,” Marinette began. “Has Alya buried the hatchet with Chloé or is this an _enemy of my enemy_ type of deal?” and she hooked her chin to where the two mentioned girls had their heads together over Alya’s phone.

“A little from column A and a little from column B. Chloé’s hated Rossi from day one for stealing her spotlight, and Alya’s out for blood for making her doubt her friends and for coming close to ruining the Ladyblog’s reputation. You two have become their joint project.”

Adrien blinked. “I don’t know whether to be afraid or… No, never mind, I am afraid.”

Marinette nodded, eyes wide in worry. “Agreed. Those two teaming up for anything is dangerous at best.”

“Apocalyptic,” Adrien added.

“Chillax, my Dudes. I got them to promise not to do anything illegal or physically or bodily damaging. Got it in writing, too. Really wish I could tell you, but they both don’t want Rossi to get any wind of what they’re planning and coming up with a counterattack. I know a bit, but even I’m confused about some aspects of it.”

“So, we act as if everything is status quo and hope we get enough advance warning to duck?” Adrien questioned.

“Wish I had more to give you, Bro.”

“No, this is actually a lot. Marinette and I had an idea that Alya was working on something for a while now. Knowing that she roped in Chloé on whatever this is, you know it’ll be huge. Even without details, this helps.”

“Rumour has it that Rossi is defying the protection order, though. So, I’ve been charged with escorting, and I quote, _the precious cream puff babies to class_ , end quote.”

The hidden heroes groaned half-heartedly, touched that so many were willing to back them up now, but at the same time miffed that no one believed they could actually defend themselves if need be. What that mitigating the risk of running into Lila and having her attempt one of her many tricks was welcome.

And try she did.

As they moved towards the stairs to the second floor, Lila began to almost wail plaintively, moaning about being thrown away without explanation and being forbidden to learn anything because of the protection order.

But if any of the lower classmen tried to intervene on her behalf, Adrien and Marinette’s classmates would make it a point to suddenly come between their friends and those students. Often all it took was a frown to ward the younger students off, but sometimes it took a stern verbal warning to convince them to leave.

It warmed the hidden heroes’ hearts to know their friends had realized the truth and were no longer accusing them of whatever Lila claimed was their issue with her.

But if anyone caught sight of Lila without one of her fake masks during the day, one could have seen how progressively irate she was becoming with her lacking ability to get a rise out of the pair or any of their other classmates. No matter what she tried to spin, no one listened to her, or Alix would take the lead and flat out tell her to shut up.

Marinette felt a slight amount of guilt at the shocked look on Lila’s face each time Alix yelled at her, but only a slight amount.

Adrien chuckled at his girlfriend and partner as they took their seats in their last class of the day. “You look utterly too satisfied,” he accused gently.

“Well, vindication is such a satisfying feeling.” She sunk slightly. “Does that make me petty?”

“No, My Lady, like you said, that makes you vindicated.” He gripped her hand tenderly. “You don’t have a petty bone in your body.”

She pouted. “I can so be petty.”

He chuckled, bringing her hand up to his face. “Nope, you’re just too good,” and he kissed the backs of her fingers.

“Ugh!” Chloe scoffed from the desk across the aisle from them. “You two ooze more sap than a Canadian maple tree.”

“You’re just jealous,” Nino accused from his spot behind the pair.

Chloé huffed. “I am all for sap, but that much is enough to drown in.”

Alya swooned against Nino’s shoulder. “Ah, to drown in romantic sappiness…”

Nino chuckled. “Babe, I am plenty sappy, but my Bro just happens to be a king and master of sap. I can’t compete.”

“You can’t beat out years of watching those god-awful romance anime and Disney movies he’s watched before being allowed to come to school,” the Mayor’s Daughter smirked.

Adrien frowned, unable to stop his smile though. “I feel attacked.”

“It’s not an attack when it’s the truth, Adri-kins,” she replied, mirth in her voice. “Different topic: Are you being forced to go to the Winter Gala again this year?”

He sighed heavily. “Yes. Before my akumatization, Father was pushing very hard for me to attend with Rossi.”

“I certainly hope he’s not expecting that to happen now,” she demanded, enraged at the thought of Lila Rossi going to one of Paris’s most prestigious galas on Adrien’s arm. 

She shot a glare to the back of the class where Lila was doing her best to look like a dejected outcast, but no one was paying enough attention to her to make it effective. Besides, Chloé knew for a fact Rossi was probably listening to their conversation and was scheming.

“No, there’s no chance of that ever happening… ever. He agreed to replace her name with Marinette’s on every event I have to attend.”

“Oh, fabulous! Tell me, Marinette, do you have a dress yet?”

Marinette shrunk on herself, expecting the blonde to blow up at her at her answer. “Well, I do have something I designed and finished not too long ago.”

“Oo, a Marinette Dupain-Cheng original,” Chloé cooed in interest with a clap of her hands, surprising the group of friends. “Do you have a picture of it on you? Or the sketch?”

Marinette pulled out her phone, quickly scrolling through her gallery, ears buzzing in slight shock at the fact that Chloé Bourgeois was showing a definite and genuine positive interest in something she had designed. She wasn’t disparaging it or her skill in any way.

Part of Marinette was sure Hell had frozen over.

She turned her phone towards the blonde, seeing Sabrina peer over her shoulder to see the picture as well.

“Oh, Marinette, that’s gorgeous!” the timid redhead gushed.

“Mm, yes, this will do nicely for the Winter Gala,” Chloé agreed, her tone reminding Marinette of this one’s Mother, Audrey Bourgeois.

“I will need accessories though,” the baker’s girl admitted.

“That, I can arrange. And if we can’t find anything in a store, we’ll just go back to my place and raid my accessories. Guarantee we’ll find something fabulous in my things to make this outfit complete. Something sparkly, a necessary clutch, I would think maybe a two-inch heel would work nicely for this dress.”

Marinette blinked in surprise at her enthusiasm.

Chloé was willing to help her and actually seemed like she was looking forward to it.

Yes, Hell must have frozen over.

* * *

No one paid any attention to the back of the class, to where Lila was quietly fuming, getting progressively frustrated and furious. 

She could hear everyone’s conversations, their pathetic little lives they were sharing with their classmates. Nothing that she could really use for her own gain, just ridiculous little likes or dislikes from things experienced or heard over the weekend.

If these sheep still believed her, she could have inserted herself into those conversations, turned them into some story about how anything they said directly related to her. But they had quietly become wise somehow. None of her tales seemed to impress or captivate them anymore.

She only received wary expressions when she tried to tell them something she thought they wanted to hear.

So she listened instead.

Listened to their tiny little lives.

Listened to their plans for the week or further into the future.

Listened for anything she could use to put herself back on the top.

Something to make Gabriel Agreste cancel the protection orders and get her back on his companies payroll. She had become used to the lifestyle his payments allowed her to have, the access to designer clothing and the latest and greatest technology.

But now the money was dwindling. Lila growled at the fact she had to take a hard look at what was left and her weekly allowance from her Mother just to be able to ration her funds. 

Someone like her shouldn’t have to budget.

Someone like her should have had the world cater to her, shower her with money and fame.

So when she overheard Adrien mention the Winter Gala and how she would have originally been on his arm for the event, she wanted to scream. Before the whole Chat Blanc incident, Gabriel would have forced Adrien to take her, regardless of anything the teen tried to claim in protest.

To hear that her name was now being replaced by Dupain-Cheng’s twisted the knife just a little bit more.

All Dupain-Cheng had could have been hers.

It should be hers.

Aside from current situations, there was no reason it couldn’t still be hers.

Enough time hadn’t passed yet to make the protection order common knowledge throughout the fashion world. Unless they had direct business dealings with Agreste Design, there was no reason for that information to have been shared.

But it was common knowledge that Lila had dealings with Agreste Design. The whole segment on Alec Cataldi’s show promoting her to the world had ensured that.

That had been Lila’s stroke of genius, sending his show the media spot.

She would need to craft a carefully believable story to allow her into the Winter Gala, but she would get in. There was no way she would allow that opportunity to slip by. And if the media covering the event asked about her firing, she could weave a tale about Gabriel changing his mind and calling her back.

There would be no way for them to verify until the fashion house opened for business again the following day. So she could have at least one night, and possibly a weekend, to revel in the media spotlight.

And if on the following business day everything fell apart, she could use it to continue her attacks on Agreste Design as being a ruthless and heartless corporation who never cared about the health and welfare of its employees, past or present.

All of this would be infinitely easier if Hawk Moth hadn’t suddenly developed a conscience.

Just like Gabriel Agreste, the villain had abandoned her to her own devices. True, this was how she had operated for a good many years before him, but Hawk Moth had made things easier and so much more interesting.

If all else failed, Lila still had one final card she could play that could potentially destroy the Agrestes, harm Dupain-Cheng either physically or emotionally, and prove to Hawk Moth that she was still a force to be reckoned with and he should come out of hiding.

Causing Adrien to change, as he almost had during his last photo shoot.

But this time she would make sure he would take her as his hostage and not Dupain-Cheng. She had to have learned something about him during his initial akumatization that she was using to force him into this relationship with her. Lila would repeat the kidnapping, keep him in that form for the same amount of time as Dupain-Cheng had, and would learn what that secret was.

Lila would cause the disruptions, make him frustrated and lose whatever control he had on this Hyde side of his. That way he wouldn’t target her with his anger, but she was convinced his animal side would choose her over Dupain-Cheng if she made sure to stay in his line of sight.

Rossi heard Bourgeois talking about accessories to go with whatever dress Dupain-Cheng had created.

How in the Hell that girl was capable of churning out design after design in so little time was a complete mystery, and every last one had people swooning when she posted them on her online store.

Lila had her own store as well, but it didn’t bring in even half the attention Dupain-Cheng got.

She swallowed a growl.

She would have to dip into her carefully rationed finances to get a dress to top anything Dupain-Cheng had dreamed up.

Something daring.

Something sexy.

Something to ensure every pair of eyes would be glued to her for the entire evening.

First part of her plan: The dress. She could go after school, her Mother had texted her to say she was working late.

Second: Find out when and where the Winter Gala was being held. A quick internet search would reveal that.

Third: Find a way into the event. She could try calling as if she were an assistant from Agreste Design, get herself added to the attendance list. Failing that, turning on the waterworks at one of the door attendants could make they uncomfortable enough to just get herself ushered in.

Those three points would actually be the hardest part. The rest wouldn’t need much planning, just her silver tongue and her ability to charm.

Her eyes fixed the back of Adrien’s head as class began, a slow smile creeping over her lips.

Rossi would charm.

She would schmooze.

She would win her status back and destroy all who took it from her.

After all, she always won in the end. It was the long game.

And Adrien was one of the prizes to the game.

Everything else was just a bonus.

The class would beg her forgiveness.

Alya would beg to become her best friend.

Dupain-Cheng would be crushed.

Once all that was assured, Lila could turn her attention to destroying Ladybug, the other prize to her long game.

Rossi forced the chuckle down.

Everyone thought her defeated, but she was never one to accept defeat. She could twist it into whatever she needed. This situation was no different.

She would have her victory.

It was just a matter of time.


	9. Chapter 9

A loud and happy crow filled the late-night air, resonating over the night-time quiet of Paris.

Anyone walking the streets at this time of night and heard the call paid it no mind, knowing who it was. To them, the fact it sounded happy, was a good sign.

One of the Heroes of Paris was in a good mood.

Always a good thing.

Leaping from rooftop to rooftop, laughing joyfully, Chat Noir raced above the city as His Lady chased after him, more reserved but also laughing.

This was one of their games, the chase.

It had been so long since they had just played tag across the rooftops, where they didn’t have to worry about Hawk Moth or next day obligations that this chase would make them too tired to attend. It was a school holiday in the morning. No classes, no early morning, sleeping in was almost expected.

This game was a welcome celebration of a day of rest after so much.

And it helped Adrien decompress of all the stresses lately. As Chat Noir, he could race and shout and just act as goofy and crazy as he wanted at this time of night without being reprimanded by his Father or Nathalie. His Lady would watch out for his safety, warning him if he got too reckless, but she would let him act any way he wanted because she knew now just how much he needed nights like this.

Chat Noir ran up to the edge of the roof, standing on the low bordering wall for a moment as he breathed in deep of the cool evening air.

It was a gorgeous night, the sky clear of any clouds. The city’s lights drowned out the majority of the stars, but a few of the brightest ones did manage to stay visible, even with the bright sliver light of the Moon.

He looked over his shoulder at Ladybug a few rooftops over, drawing closer to where he was. He smiled impishly, dashing off to the side behind a roof access.

Ladybug landed on the roof, running up to the structure, fully expecting to see him hiding around the corner.

But he wasn’t there.

Confused at his sudden disappearance, Ladybug pulled back from the corner, intent on turning to survey the roof. A pair of arms wrapped around her from behind, lifting her off her feet with a laugh she would always recognize. She shrieked her own laugh in response as he spun her around, pressing his face against the back of her neck. Keeping her tight in his arms, Chat Noir leaned back on the roof access wall. A happy smile was plastered on his face.

Ladybug could feel the good humour simply radiating all around him and tipped her head back to be able to see him.

And then she felt the purr.

She smirked, a small chuckle in her throat. “I thought you didn’t like purring.”

“I don’t like purr-rr-ing in public, but I will purr-rr forr-rr you,” he admitted through the soft rumbling in his chest.

“I’m honoured.”

Chat Noir let his head fall back, green eyes glowing up to the night sky, to the brightest object hanging in the ultraviolet.

“Look at that moon,” he marvelled.

Ladybug looked up. Rising just to the right of the Eiffel Tower’s peak, the great yellow white aster illuminated the night. 

For a brief second, a flash of a memory invaded her mind’s eye. 

It was the moon, cracked in half, a gigantic crater bisected by this fissure. Paris was flooded, the Eiffel Tower was on its side.

And a sad melody wafted on the air as blue eyes stared at her in betrayal and longing.

She shuddered despite her best effort not to.

“Are you cold, My Lady?” Chat Noir questioned in concern.

Her shoulders stiffened. “No, I…”

Blue eyes closed and she heaved a sigh, the tension that had started to build deflating, her own words echoing in her mind.

No secrets.

Ladybug took hold of his hands and untangled his arms from around her form, turning to face him, her expression serious.

“There’s something I really need to tell you.”

He blinked. “That sounds ominous.”

She squeezed his hands in reassurance. “No, no! It’s not… at least I think it’s not… no, it’s not… It… it’s something from earlier this year.” 

Ladybug tugged at him to follow her down to the roof, sitting against the roof access structure. His thumbs smoothed over her knuckles as he waited for her to collect her thoughts.

“Do… do you remember when Bunnix needed my help for a mission?”

“Yeah… I was a little insulted that she only needed your help and not mine.”

“There was a reason for that.”

“When did you go?”

“Not when. Same time, just… just an alternate timeline.”

“Alternate timeline? You mean like if you turned left instead of right, you end up creating a timeline for both the left and the right?”

She frowned ever so slightly at him. “Tell me this isn’t your love of physics that explains how you know this.”

He chuckled. “Not completely. Remember that I had so much free time to watch all sorts of shows and movies before I started at _Francoise Dupont_.”

“Oh… right… So, yeah, Bunnix took me to an alternate timeline. One where a lot of things make sense now that I know a few things. From what I can tell, it all started with the beret I made you.”

He smiled softly. “I suspected it was you and not some Brazilian fans like you claimed.”

She returned the smile, hers tinged with sadness. “I wanted to tell you, but Bunnix told me I couldn’t, that it was dangerous. And seeing that other timeline, I understood how.”

“What happened?”

She hesitated, looking down at their joined hands. “I… I don’t have all the details. Somehow, the other you found out who I was behind the mask, and… and Hawk Moth found out who was behind Chat Noir’s mask.”

Chat Noir’s mouth formed a silent oh, his eyes widening as the dread set in from the realization of what could happen if ever his Father found out he was half or the team the man sought to defeat at every turn.

“I… I can only assume he found a way to antagonize the other you, to the level of a few weeks ago in our timeline. But instead of turning Adrien into Chat Blanc, he turned Chat Noir into Chat Blanc. I know the other you fought him.”

“Always!” he assured, squeezing her hands. “No matter what, I could never hurt you, no matter which alternate universe I exist in.”

Again, she hesitated, curling her shoulders and finding it hard to look at him. “Not… intentionally.”

Chat Noir gaped in horror. “What… what did I… he… do?”

Her eyes fixed their hands, unable to look at him and see his expressions when she would tell him. Exhaling softly, she tugged his hands closer.

“I know the other you didn’t mean to,” she began, her voice very soft. “I know he tried… he said as much, that he never meant to…”

He freed one of his hands to curl a finger under chin and get her to look at him. “My Lady… what did the other me do?”

“When… when Bunnix dropped me off… all I saw was Paris completely flooded over, to the tenth floor of most of the buildings.”

“Flooded?”

“You… he destroyed the moon… split it in half. There was a huge crater at the impact site.”

“I… he did?”

She nodded. “The battle with Hawk Moth happened at the base of the Eiffel Tower. It was knocked over on its side. And I found the other you alone, sitting on top of the TVi building, singing to himself.”

“Alone? Where was the other Ladybug?”

She paused again. “I found her… standing with Hawk Moth… at the base of the Eiffel Tower.”

The wheels turning in his head were almost visible through his eyes. “But you said that Paris was flooded.”

Ladybug nodded. “They were both underwater… both turned into ash statues.”

Chat Noir suddenly felt as if he couldn’t breathe, feeling his muscles turn to jelly. Part of him knew that it wasn’t him, that it was a version of him from another timeline. But he couldn’t help but feel the abject pain at this knowledge. His other self had, unintentionally, killed not only his Father, but also his Ladybug. If that had happened to him, he was sure it would have driven him completely mad.

To lose Ladybug by his hand…

To lose Marinette…

The pain squeezing his heart caused him to gasp.

And then came a flash of anger towards Bunnix. “Why did Bunnix let you see that?” he demanded.

“I guess… because she knew I would fix it… with the Miraculous Cure. The other you didn’t make finding the akuma particularly easy,” and she reached over to drag a finger over the bell at his throat. “I have to hope that when I cast the cure that everything went back to normal for him, that she came back to him and they stopped Hawk Moth.”

“You didn’t stay to see it?”

She shook her head sadly. “Bunnix made me cast the cure from her, uh, time burrow? I didn’t see anything. I think it’s because I didn’t know who was behind your mask at the time and she needed to keep it that way just a little longer.”

“Do you think this is what Master Fu warned us about to keep our identities a secret? That if Hawk Moth found out who one or both of us are, that alternate timeline could happen?”

“After seeing it, I would hope not. But since we know who Hawk Moth is, all the more reason that he should never know.”

“Agreed.” He watched for a moment as she rubbed her thumbs over his hands, a deep sadness settling over her features from the memory. “You weren’t going to tell me, were you?”

Ladybug winced. “I was afraid if I told you, you would either double your efforts to find out who I was to find a way to stop any of it from happening, or it might scare you enough to give up your ring.”

“I probably would have tried harder to find out your identity, but I would never give up my ring, even knowing that. It’s you and me, My Lady.”

“Against the world,” she smiled softly.

“Always,” and he brought her hands to his lips, reverently kissing the backs of each one of her fingers.

She looked at him tenderly, smiling. “I know Tikki says I shouldn’t, but I have to think that since Bunnix hasn’t shown up in our timeline to stop us from knowing who’s behind the mask, the time must be right. _We_ must be right.”

“Is that why you were so nervous all the time a few weeks ago? You were watching for her?”

“I was.” She chuckled morosely. “Terrible, isn’t it? I am such a spaz.”

“Maybe,” he smirked tenderly. “Luckily, you’re cute when you’re neurotic.”

She pouted as if insulted, but her amusement twinkled in her eyes.

“So, was akumatized me from this timeline anything like the other Chat Blanc?”

“Chat!”

“What? I’m a cat and I’m curious. Indulge me?”

She huffed a breath. “I guess… You had your similarities, but you were also different. Both of you were all white, but the other you was more of a white Chat Noir whereas you were more… furry.”

“Furry?”

“Instead of leather, your suit felt like it had like a thin velvet coating to it. You had difficulty speaking too, Plagg had to translate your growls. And you were more like a real cat, more feral. The you in the other timeline was just… well… I think he went insane.”

“I can see that. Placed in the same situation, knowing that I was responsible for… for what happened to you, I know I would have lost it too.”

She noticed how he had avoided using the word _killed_ , but made no mention of it to him. 

“And your eyes were different,” she opted to continue. She tipped his chin up to get a good look at the vibrant green of his feline eyes. “I’m so used to seeing green eyes. The other you had blue eyes and they were so cold and sad. And akumatized you had magenta eyes.” She smirked. “I do prefer the green. But those two versions of Chat Blanc were so different from each other. Alternate timeline Chat Blanc, like I said, was insane. You as Chat Blanc was just very protective.”

“Yet we were both caused by the same person.”

“He knows your negative triggers. He created them after all.”

“I keep thinking he never really wanted a child,” he sighed, leaning his head back slight. “He always demanded perfection. Don’t laugh, don’t cry, stand there, wear that, stand up straight… Give him a robot mannequin that looks like me and he’d probably be happier.”

“Well, I prefer the genuine article. You’re a lot more huggable and warmer than some robot.”

“Ah, so you just keep me around because I’m cuddly,” he teased.

“Cuddly, kind, and the best partner I would ever want.”

“Even with all my issues?”

“We all have issues, Kitty. You said it yourself, I’m neurotic. I know that. You? You’re damaged. But together, we’re unstoppable, regardless of all of that.”

He smiled down at their joined hands. “That we are.”

“Never forget that. And never forget that I love you, no matter what.”

Chat Noir favoured her with a goofy and tender smile. “I will never tire of hearing you say that.”

“Good thing I’ll never get tired of saying it then.”

He began to chuckle slightly, carefully using a claw to move a lock of hair away from her eyes. “We have so much time to make up for.”

“And all the time in the world to do that,” she giggled. “Meanwhile…” She rolled up to her knees and lightly tapped his chest. “Tag! You’re it!” and she bolted off, slinging out her yo-yo to swing to the next roof.

“Hey!” he laughed, dashing after her.

Once again, their laughter filled the late Paris night.

* * *

Gabriel Agreste growled uncharacteristically at the endless piles of papers and books littering every flat surface, and then some, of his office.

Some of the texts were in English, but infinitely more were in Wu, Min, Hakka, Gan and Xiang, many were in Tibetan and Sanskrit, a few were even in Hindi, Urdu, and Punjabi. A small number of books were merely to translate some of these texts.

Some of the texts read almost like esoteric poetry, flowery and euphemistic in their descriptions.

Some read like technical manuals from a Swedish furniture store.

All were beyond confusing.

_The source of a kwami’s power resides on the metaphysical plane tied to the Akashic Record and the eighth dimension making their quantic existence…_

_The Miraculous gems were formed from the great god’s hair mixed with the grand lady’s tears…_

_Magic is a fickle and dangerous power…_

_But a detailed explanation of how to counter the effects of a spell can be found in the Scrolls of Milarepa…_

_Reversal of magic is best described in the Scrolls of Atiśa…_

_If you have accidentally corrupted a spell, you may be able to use the works of Khön Könchok Gyelpo…_

He recognized none of those names.

The Scrolls of Mahamudra.

The teachings of the Six Dharmas of Naropa.

The complete treatise of Marpa.

The tomes of Drogmi Shākya.

The works the Sakya Trizin.

The Sacred texts of the mahasiddha Virūpa.

The Tibetan translations of Sanskrit by King Songtsän Gampo.

Despite his best research and deepest digging into the annals of magic and the black market, he could find no available copy of these documents.

He needed these documents.

Each time he translated a passage in the Miraculous Book, it referred to one of these scrolls or ancient books.

Short of going to Tibet and finding the monasteries where the originals were kept, and somehow receiving permission to review them, he was lacking this information.

And he was not about to sign up for Buddhist teachings and the years they entailed just to eventually have access to these higher texts to maybe find the answers he was looking for.

He needed this information now.

His Son needed this information now.

The Miraculous Book wouldn’t mention these documents in order to reverse his experiments with the akuma if they weren’t important and necessary. That book was rather straight forward, but relied on other books and scrolls to complete its own information. No doubt a security feature the monks who originally wrote it put into play to ensure that the spells contained within wouldn’t work without intimate knowledge of the culture and beliefs.

Gabriel pushed one book away at the mention of another text, one he did have, and he began reading the passage in question.

This one looked promising. So far it was being clear on what to do, what to use. It hadn’t yet listed texts or documents he didn’t have.

… _but this ritual is only contained in Devine Writings of the King Trisong Detsen…_

Gabriel almost screamed, throwing all the books and papers off his desk in a flurry of papers and bound novels. He sunk his face in his hands, so very tired by it all.

“Another dead end, Sir?” Nathalie questioned, entering from a side door to the office.

He inhaled deeply to settle his nerves. “The Order of Guardians of the Miraculous were clever, hiding their rituals and knowledge across so many texts and scrolls that no one single person could amass them all in one lifetime.” He raised his face from his hands to rest his chin on his fingers. “One must join the order to access them all in one place.”

“Then it is futile?”

His fist connected with the desk’s surface. “No! No, I refuse to give up. Even the best laid security systems have a flaw. Even the strongest protections can be bested. The answers are here. I’m confident I can piece enough of it together to make the ritual work.”

She blinked in growing dread at those words: _piece enough of it together_.

He had said the same thing close to a month ago, back when he had started changing the nature and strength of the akuma.

And Nathalie was more than aware of how amazingly terrible that had gone.

“Are… are you sure that would be… wise, Sir?”

“Yes, yes, of course. I have enough information here in order to fill in the missing parts.” 

He retrieved the Miraculous Book and turned to the pages about his own Miraculous, pulling out the pages of notes he had tucked there to ensure he could find them easily.

Nathalie really didn’t like the sounds of this. This was a familiar conversation, almost identical to a month ago.

“Just like with the white akuma? Sir?”

“No, this will be nothing of the sort,” he assured, pulling up what he had been able to bookmark online.

He laid out the books and paperwork on his desk, pulling out a fresh stack of blank sheets to start taking new notes, eyes flying from page to page to page. He had a plan in mind, and he would make it work. This was just like his plan to revive Emilie from her deep coma. Gabriel knew what he had to do and put all his efforts and energy into that single-minded purpose.

It would work.

I had to work.

Nathalie watched him dig himself into his endeavour and chewed the inside of her cheek. She turned and walked away, knowing she would be ignored and forgotten while he worked.

This was the white butterfly all over again.

Her employer had only a thin slice of how to perform the ritual, only had part of what would lead him to what he needed in the moment.

And just like the white butterfly, she just knew it would fail.

She had counselled against using Adrien at the time, knowing he had such a strength of will that Gabriel would never be able to control him like he wanted.

How Adrien had developed this backbone when she and his Father had done everything short of outright abuse to make him meek and compliant was a mystery.

But that didn’t matter now.

Without the full ritual for the white akuma, he had been able to fight the control Hawk Moth attempted to exert. And now Hawk Moth was trapped in quite an air-tight agreement. She too, even if the teen didn’t know she was Mayura.

Adrien had been very clever.

If Gabriel created just one akuma at any time, he would lose his Miraculous and Adrien would reveal him to the world as being Hawk Moth. That would result in terrorist charges against the man. And, seeing how much he had negatively affected the city for so long, those charges would be served consecutively. Nathalie had kept count of the number of akuma Gabriel had created. Seeing as a terrorism change in France carried a sentence of a minimum of thirty years, and it was guaranteed he would get that at the very least, Gabriel would serve a sentence well into the thousands of years.

So, no more akuma.

No amok.

No more plotting to get the Ladybug and Chat Noir Miraculous gems.

Nathalie had hoped he would sink himself back into fashion to distract himself from the fact he would never be able to wish his wife back.

This new ritual he was researching was as good a distraction, but could be as dangerous as the white akuma.

Maybe she could warn the children about this, keep them aware of the man’s progress in order to protect them somehow.

She sighed heavily with a shake of her head.

“This is not what I was hired on for,” she muttered. “I am so demanding a raise.”

* * *

Master Fu took a slow and careful sip of his hot Jasmine tea, enjoying the light floral notes and pleasant astringent effect on his tongue. Wise and aged eyes drifted over ancient languages inscribed on even more ancient scrolls and books, easily translating the squiggles and ink strokes as he went.

He paused on one passage written in Sanskrit, teacup lowering slightly.

“Wayzz, do I have the Second Scroll in the collected works of Mahamudra?”

The little green kwami floated quickly towards a hidden cabinet in the wall. “Yes, Master.” He scanned the scrolls, and then pulled one of the rolls free before flying back to the low table. “Here you are, Master.”

“Ah, thank you,” and he unrolled the ancient parchment. “I do believe we may be ahead of Hawk Moth in our research, this despite the fact that he knows exactly what he did to corrupt the akuma.”

“I agree, Master. Without access to these documents, he may find his research blocked on many fronts.”

Fu paused, staring off at nothing as he considered his thoughts. “Had I known Chat Noir’s Father was Hawk Moth… Had I known all of this was even possible by any one grieving man…”

“But you couldn’t have known, Master. Every person grieves differently so no one could have imagined he was desperate to this point.”

“But to use his own child to achieve his goals? That has long crossed the line from grief to insanity.”

“You are planning something.”

“I do not know if it will be possible, though. I cannot reveal myself for fear that Hawk Moth will try to hunt me down. And with the resources we now know he has access to, he would be able to find me and take the other Miraculous to use against Ladybug and Chat Noir.” He exhaled heavily. “Ladybug is not yet ready to take my place at Guardian.”

“She will be an excellent Guardian, but I will be sad to lose you, Master.”

The old man smiled at the kwami. “Thank you, Wayzz, but that is still a long way off. We must stay focused on Chat Noir’s current problem… problems.”

“The issue with the akuma should not be hard to resolve. I have asked Hiss if he would be willing to lend his own wisdom to the matter, should we get stuck. He has agreed, having worked with the boy once before and willing to help him.”

“Excellent.”

“He said he was greatly impressed with his determination to find a solution to a problem that was not for him to fix. Hiss said he used Second Chance twenty-five thousand nine hundred thirteen times.”

Fu hummed softly at that, mentally calculating how much time that would equate to. Just shy of ninety days. The boy’s resolve was one of the reasons he had been chosen to be Chat Noir, his insistence to never give up even in the face of impossible odds. But what he to witness during those three months, failure after failure, it must have cracked him slightly. Which explained how he had become susceptible to the akuma.

“I have amends to make to that poor boy,” Fu voiced. “I excluded him. He is Ladybug’s partner and, when she becomes Guardian, she will need him more than ever.” He pinched the bridge of his nose with a small frustrated growl. “I am making mistakes again.”

“You are only human, Master.”

With a sigh, Fu unrolled another scroll on the table, reading through the ritual it described in rather vivid details. He began to frown at the words. The translation was imperfect, more literal of the ancient texts instead of taking context into account.

_… whiter than the first snow of the mountain, the Herald of the Maker of Champions…_

Maker of Champions.

That had to be a reference to the wielder of the Butterfly Miraculous.

So, the _herald_ had to be the akuma.

“Which Scroll is this?”

“The Gandhāran manuscripts, Master.”

“So, between the first and third century. Well, now, seems Hawk Moth wasn’t so original in his plan to create and use a white akuma. There’s mention here of a white herald to the Maker of Champions.”

“This would be the oldest reference you have found so far, Master. And it mentions the white akuma.”

“Let me see here.” He gently flattered the roll of ancient parchment in order to see the delicate script a little clearer. “The Maker of Champions learned how to make her Heralds more powerful, to impart greater powers to her Champions… She was losing a war against… the Druk? Must be an ancestor in the Drukpa lineage… the dragon? Hmm… The red beetle and the shadow of the snow leopard were not enough to defeat the armies of the dragon…”

“Ah, Master, I remember this battle!”

“Yes, Wayzz?”

“It was so many millennia ago, long before this script. Longg had been stolen by an apprentice who was learning how to master the gem. She was going to be removed from the order for her lacking skills and respect. Her name was… Leki!”

“She lived up to her name, I take it?”

“Yes, Master. She believed she would be the next Great Guardian and would be granted the Ladybug gems. Master Dujom disagreed with her assessment. Shenden was granted the use of Nooroo to help stop her, but it wasn’t enough. I did not see the ritual, but she created a very powerful akuma that turned the tides.”

“Ah, but the ritual is here, Wayzz. All detailed, what herbs to use and the sigils to cast. With this, I should be able to find a way to completely remove the effects of the white akuma.”

“That is excellent news, Master!”

“Now, I think a fresh pot of tea is needed before I start. I have a feeling translating the text properly and finding the right combination of magicks will take time to interpret.”

“I would recommend Oolong or that lovely Earl Grey blend you received last month.”

“Yes, I think those would be very welcome.”

* * *

“I swear, if you don’t stop bouncing your leg, I will stab it,” Chloé warned, leaning back from carefully applying make-up to the girl in front of her.

Marinette froze, willing the nervous tick to stop.

Chloé huffed in amusement, leaning in again to carefully finish the delicate sweep of eyeshadow to the girl’s eyes. She had arrived roughly two hours ago, as she had promised, to help Marinette finish getting ready. She had come loaded with her entire cosmetics collection, styling products and implements to transform the baker girl from her daily look to something more gala worthy.

“I have no idea why you’re so nervous, Marinette. You’ve been out on dates with Adrien before.”

“We’ve been on dates,” she confirmed. “…but never to such an event like the Winter Gala. This is big. It’s going to be televised. There’s going to be businesspeople and dignitaries and designers—”

“And, as a designer yourself, you will fit in perfectly and wow them all with this amazing dress,” the blonde reassured.

“Right… you’re right…” She scrunched her nose slightly. “This is weird.”

“That I’m reassuring you? Yes, it is,” and she set the eyeshadow aside to start drawing a thin careful line of kohl liner along the lash line. “But you really have nothing to worry about. Just smile, answer questions about your dress which is really the only thing anyone is going to ask anyway, enjoy the amazing food and the stunning show from this year’s troop, and before you know it the night will be over and it’ll all feel like some marvellous dream.”

Marinette heaved a silent breath. “I can’t help but feel bad…”

“For what?”

“Well, knowing Adrien would have fought his Father tooth and nail to not attend with Lila, he would have been with Kagami tonight.”

“And?”

“And… I guess I feel guilty that she won’t get to go.”

“She’s actually lucky that she doesn’t have any obligations to go. I have to go because of Daddy, and Adri-kins has to go because his Father is a dick and a recluse.” This got Marinette to chuckle lightly. “Bet you anything that the next time you talk to the ice queen, she’ll be thanking you for getting her out of having to attend yet another gala filled with stuffed shirts.”

“How many have you been to?”

“To the Winter Gala? Every single one since Daddy became Mayor, so six now. Galas in general, oh, a few dozen or so with Mother. I have yet to go to the Met. Honestly, they’re all a blur now. I know a few were really boring, but knowing I had Adri-kins there too meant I had at least someone to talk to and commiserate.”

“I just don’t want to make a fool of myself and end up yawning at the wrong time. Or spilling my drink. Or having food stuck between my teeth. Or I fall. It would be immortalized on TV.”

Chloé growled, hands dropping away. “Dupain-Cheng, stop it!”

Marinette froze again, eyes wide.

“The only reason you _think_ you have bad luck is because you catastrophize,” the blonde scolded. She urged the girl to close her eyes again to continue applying make-up. “That has always been your problem, your lack of self-confidence. It’s what used to make you an easy target for me. But I know you’re a lot more confident then you let on, or why else would you have run against me for class president? Why would you constantly stand up against me and now Lila? So bring out that confidence tonight already! As much as it pains me to say it, you will be glorious on Adrien’s arm and your career as a designer will really officially start on the international stage tonight. Fair warning, that Etsy store of yours won’t cut it after tonight. I’m sure we can get Max to help build you something bigger to accept more traffic.”

“Don’t scare me.”

“Too late. And a little mascara… I am so jealous of your genetics for giving you these natural lashes, you hardly need anything. When I go get my lash implants, I am dragging you with me so I can show them exactly what I want. And… we’re done!”

Marinette’s eyes fluttered open, part of her worried that she would look so made up that it would be gaudy. Smoothing down the gossamer folds in her skirt, she stood and approached her full-length mirror. A silent gasp escaped her lips, and she missed the utter pleased expression Chloé gave her as she packed away the last of the cosmetics.

Her hair was gathered back in a loose twist, strategic tendrils of dark hair falling to frame her face in just the perfect places. And while it looked loose enough to fall out before the end of the evening, Marinette could feel it was plenty solid and fixed to easily survive the event and longer.

Chloé had opted to apply dark colours to the girl’s eyes, aiming for a smoky look, but somehow did not overdo it. Her dark lashes were emphasized with a subtle cat’s eye line of kohl, the blue of her irises popping a brighter blue from the dark hues.

A light peach highlighted her cheekbones, further delicately chiselled with a deeper tint in the hollow of her cheeks. The final touch was the dusty rose glistening on her lips, enhanced by the matching lipliner that seemed to plump their shape.

“Oh, Chloé…” Marinette breathed in awe, turning to the smiling blonde.

“Never let it be said that I do not know cosmetics.”

“Understatement.”

“Adri-kins should be here any moment now. I will take his jaw hitting the ground as payment.”

“Thank you… for this, for everything.”

The Mayor’s Daughter waved off the gratitude, feeling a little embarrassed and uncomfortable about receiving it. It wasn’t something she was used to.

“Well, you have to look at least half as fabulous as me after all. We will all have an amazing night where all three of us will take hundreds of pictures each with every single celebrity there to post online and make one little Italian bitch ever so jealous. Sounds like fun? Of course it does!”

She continued rambling on about delivering revenge against Rossi as Marinette turned back to the mirror, hands smoothing over the intricate crochet of a multitude of white flowers appliqued to the bodice, the palest of light blues barely visible between petals.

Hidden from Chloé’s view, Tikki flew near Marinette’s shoulder. “You look so beautiful!” she cooed softly in awe.

“You think so, Tikki?”

“I know so. Chloé is right, Adrien will be completely floored when he sees you tonight.”

“I just hope we don’t have any surprises tonight.”

“Hawk Moth won’t risk doing anything with Adrien’s contract in place. He doesn’t want to risk going to jail or losing his Miraculous... or both. Tonight won’t be anything Ladybug or Chat Noir can’t handle as their civilian selves.”

“I hope so.”

“Marinette! Chloé! Adrien is here!” Sabine called up from the apartment’s main floor.

Tikki dove into Marinette’s silver clutch just as Chloé squealed softly. “Oh, I can’t wait to see his reaction!” and she hitched up her skirts and headed for the stairs, motioning for the baker girl to follow.

The Mayor’s Daughter was already chattering away with the model as Marinette carefully made her way down the stairs, cautious of the layers of fabric that made up the skirt of her gown.

Adrien’s hair had been tamed and brushed back, no doubt held in place by Agreste Design’s product of choice.

But it was what he was wearing that took her breath away.

An all-white tuxedo, from the jacket to the button-down shirt to the crisp pressed pants, that he appeared to have been poured into by how well it fit. His vest and bow tie were the same shade of pale blue in satin, his cummerbund a deeper shade, slightly brighter than royal blue.

“Wow,” she allowed herself in a faint whisper.

Adrien must have heard though, turning his attention away from Chloé.

And his jaw dropped.

She saw his hand reach out to his side as if to steady himself, but there was nothing there and he stumbled over to the floor.

Chloé laughed in clear amusement as Marinette dashed forward to help her boyfriend.

“I knew it!” Chloé crowed in victory. “Consider tonight’s services paid in full, Marinette.”

“Are you alright, Adrien?” Marinette asked, choosing to ignore Chloé celebrating for the moment.

Green eyes fixed on her, meticulously scrutinizing her features, occasionally ghosting over her dress but mainly concentrating on her face. There was no mistaking the sheer awe written all over his face.

“You are beautiful,” he gushed breathlessly.

She blushed, her eyes lowering away bashfully, still not used to the gratuitous compliments he so easily heaped on her every day they were together.

“Aw!” Tom and Sabine cooed from just within the kitchen.

Marinette gave them a suffering glare before tugging Adrien’s hands to get him to stand. A gentle tug on the lapels of his jacket, smoothing her hands over them a moment later, she smiled shyly at her partner.

“All three of you look so amazing,” Sabine praised, clapping her hands.

“Of course, we do,” Chloé sniffed. “Adrien is a natural, Marinette is wearing a Dupain-Cheng original and I styled her so of course she looks fabulous, and I’m wearing an upgrade by Dupain-Cheng. It’s amazing how some fabric panels and pearl beading can change a dress from last year’s line.” She twirled in place with a bright smile. “Never thought I would actually enjoy, what did you call it? Upcycling? I need to find more outfits in my closet to do up.” 

“We need a picture of you three,” Tom announced, holding up his phone. “You’re all just too glamourous to let the moment go without immortalizing it.”

While Adrien tugged his girlfriend close to himself, arms resting comfortably around her waist, her hands to his chest, Chloé came up behind him to press up against his back, chin to his shoulder and arms around his middle. 

Tom had to smile at the image the three made, like something out of a fashion magazine. Really, that shouldn’t have surprised him seeing what profession Adrien was in and the fact Chloé and Marinette pretty much lived immersed in their own individual passion for fashion. The baker took a few photos in a row.

He showed them to Sabine when she stood on her tiptoes to see the phone screen. “These are going into the photo album,” he announced proudly.

“Oh, definitely!” she readily agreed.

“Mister Dupain-Cheng, could you send them to Adrien and myself?” Chloé question far more politely than her classmates were used to hearing from her.

“Of course, Chloé,” and Tom quickly attached them to a text and fired it off once she gave him her cell phone number.

The blonde turned to Adrien and held out her hand. “Phone,” she commanded.

Adrien blinked, but obeyed.

“What are you doing?” Marinette questioned, wary of why she needed Adrien’s phone.

“First salvo.” She typed something onto the phone, hitting the final icon with a casual and satisfied flick of her thumb. “This will set the tone for the weekend.”

Marinette’s phone buzzed, recipient to whatever Chloé had done. She pulled it from her clutch, unlocking her screen. The notification opened to Adrien’s Instagram account where a close-up of the one of the photos her Father had taken stared back at her. Then she noticed the caption with the image.

**_Adrienagrestebrand: Heading out to the Winter Gala with my best friend, Chloé Bourgeois (@theofficialchloébourgeois), and my amazing girlfriend, Marinette Dupain-Cheng (@marinettedesigned), the two most beautiful girls in the city._ **

She looked to the Mayor’s Daughter, her mouth agape. “What is this?”

“I’m merely letting the world know that my Adri-kins only has one girlfriend and she is thankfully not named Lila Rossi. Like I said, first salvo.”

All three of their phones began to buzz as message upon message from fans and their friends began to pour into their accounts.

There was Alya and Nino cheering them on.

Juleka, Rose and Luka commenting on what an amazing looking trio they made.

Alix telling them to slay the night.

Sabrina, Nathaniel and Marc cooing at the dresses and the suit.

Ivan and Mylene wishing them the best of luck for the evening.

And there was even an image of Kim and Ondine with pom-poms to strike a very anime cheerleader pose at them.

There was also a steady stream of Adrien’s fans, Marinette’s online customers, and Chloé’s followers all offering praise and well wishes, a few mentioning how jealous they were the event was so exclusive and they couldn’t attend with them.

Not surprisingly, there was no comment from Lila.

Part of Marinette was both curious and terrified what the lying Italian girl would come up with after this weekend. Hopefully, with whatever Chloé and Alya were planning against the girl, they were also prepared for whatever would come.

* * *

Hidden just around the corner of an alleyway, Lila looked down at her phone when it pinged a notification. Her eyes smiled at the message: a new post had been uploaded to Adrien Agreste’s Instagram page. He was no doubt posting a delicious picture of him wearing an Agreste designed suit for this gala.

Agreste Design definitely had an amazing eye when it came to dressing the teen.

Every shirt, every pair of slacks or dress pants, every jacket was tailored perfectly every single time.

She flicked her thumb over the notification, opening the application to see what her target was wearing to be able to pick him out in the crowd tonight.

Her scowl was immediate.

He was posing with Bourgeois and Dupain-Cheng in the image, his affection for the latter clear by the way he held her close.

And then she saw the comment tied to the picture.

**_Adrienagrestebrand: Heading out to the Winter Gala with my best friend, Chloé Bourgeois (@theofficialchloébourgeois), and my amazing girlfriend, Marinette Dupain-Cheng (@marinettedesigned), the two most beautiful girls in the city._ **

She wanted to scream.

By the number of comments the image had already garnered, attempting to steal his phone to delete this image from existence was useless. By now it had been shared and re-blogged and saved to desktops of every single fan Adrien had following him.

Which meant, if the media hadn’t seen it yet, it was only a matter of scant hours before they would.

She had to act soon to sow the seed of doubt.

Lila looked around the corner to the security surrounding the _Palais d’Iena_. Earlier she had been able to identify almost twenty men who were obviously there to keep gate crashers out. They were very attentive to everything around them, almost physically carrying out those who had tried to boldly go in through the front door. 

What didn’t help was also the dozens of attendants at the doors checking for the official invitation that allowed access inside. Everything was cross-checked on tablets they all carried to ensure that if a name wasn’t on the list, invitation or not, they were not allowed in. Despite her tales of knowing computer systems inside and out and being able to exploit any weakness they had, Lila had no knowledge what-so-ever on how to hack whatever database these attendants were using.

But even the most secure location had a weakness to be exploited somewhere.

History had proven this enough times.

Lila knew this for a fact. She had attended more than one supposedly secure event in the past by finding a window or some back door that no one had bothered to secure.

She shifted her bag on her shoulder slightly, the weight of the cosmetics and scandalous dress obvious to the girl. Once she found a way in, she would locate a side room or bathroom and get ready. She might receive flack from her Mother if this one noticed the credit card charge for the dress, or somehow saw it on TV or online, but she would get out of that argument like she always did.

Her Mother was such a weak-minded idiot, she would believe anything and everything her darling Daughter recounted to her. A trembling lip or well-placed tears would merely cement it all.

But first, she had to get in, and preferably before Adrien arrived to be able to accidentally bump into him.

She quietly ducked around the corner, making sure not to be seen, and casually strolled towards the other side alley she had identified earlier. There were numerous low windows and access doors along this wall. With a little luck, she could find one to either jimmy open or break unseen. If luck was really with her, she would find one unlocked.

The sound of a door opening caused her to back behind a dumpster. Just ahead, a large man in cook’s whites held a door open with his foot while he leaned over to open a nearby garbage can and drop a trash bag into it. With a kick, he pushed the door open wide with his foot to head back inside.

Lila ran forward and snagged the door before it could close.

The pleased smile spread across her lips.

She was in.

Keeping to the edge of the room, she dashed forward through the kitchens and out the swinging doors. A cursory glance around showed she was in the main dining room for tonight’s festivities, huge round tables dotting the room in strategic placement to allow free movement between each while being just close enough to allow table to table conversations.

Waiters moved about, putting finishing touches to the place settings or polishing glasses that didn’t gleam just right.

All too busy to notice a teenage girl sneaking into the venue.

Lila walked quickly towards a door off to the side, internally cheering when this door led to the women’s washroom. She chose a stall near the door, locked the door behind which she hung her bag, and then pulled out her phone to monitor events outside the building.

Celebrities invited to the Winter Gala were starting to arrive, the Mayor greeting each one as they walked the royal blue carpet towards him.

Every last one was dressed in various shades of blue and brilliant whites.

She smirked, proud that she had guessed right as to the evening’s color scheme. Her midnight blue feathered dress would fit in perfectly in the crowd. It wasn’t a designer exclusive dress or anything of the sort, but it would do.

Clara Nightingale had just arrived on the blue carpet, her dress seemingly made of thousands of scarves of every conceivable color of blue in existence. Lila would have to look up who the designer was to tie herself to them somehow.

Propping up her phone on the toilet, Rossi carefully began to get changed, keeping her eyes on the small screen.

Several long minutes and a steady stream of celebrities later, Jagged Stone stepped out on the carpet decked out in ice white and blue. An elegant petite woman was behind him in a sky-blue sheath gown. The rocker struck several flexing poses for the throngs of cameras, clearly enjoying the moment.

It was something that made Lila a little jealous, the constant adulations he commanded from the media wherever he went. 

That should have been her life as Agreste Design’s prima model next to Adrien.

The next car that arrived made her want to crush her phone.

From the grey sedan emerged Adrien who pause strategically to wave to the press. He then turned to offer a hand to Bourgeois, her ease and comfort as the center of attention clear by how she glided forward and posed for the cameras.

And then he offered a hand to help Dupain-Cheng from the car, her blue eyes a little wide from the attention she garnered.

Lila saw Adrien say something to her and the girl seemed to relax, smiling at the model in all affection, ignoring the fact that they were being photographed.

Rossi growled.

Those photos would ruin her chance for sure of convincing anyone that she was still with Adrien.

She straightened, eyes fixed on the wall before her in thought, lightly sucking the inside of her cheek in determination.

New plan.

Casually bumping into Adrien at this gala wouldn’t do anything for her now.

Making a scene about him being there with Dupain-Cheng when he was supposed to be with her, that also held very little chance of success. She would back-pocket that plan for now, she could still use it in a last-ditch effort if the need arose.

She tapped her four-inch warrior wrap heel on glazed floors.

How was she going to cause trouble for them now?

It was a weak ploy at best, but she could walk around the event and take casual photos here and there of the celebrities gathered in the hall. Posting these photos online with just the right comments could bring the skeptics of her class back under her sway.

If she was such a pariah, why would she be schmoozing with high society?

Lila could start claiming a different fashion house had picked her up. She could make the claim that, upon hearing that Agreste Design’s number two model was now a free agent, that fashion house signed her on to their label. She would have to be vague as to who that was, maybe claim she was a body model for spreads where the female model’s face was never seen.

That could bring back some of the attention she craved from her classmates.

But it wasn’t enough.

She wanted the fame the Agreste family could bring her, and to get that she needed to be tied to Adrien.

How to get him though?

Could she try to get him to change, to make him turn into Chat Blanc?

It was risky.

With Dupain-Cheng present, Lila risked having a transformed Adrien turn to the baker girl instead of her like she planned. Dupain-Cheng seemed to know exactly how to keep him calm. He would turn to the girl first before anyone else if she was anywhere within sight. Even if he didn’t see her, knowing she was near would make him seek her out.

On the other hand, instead of targeting Adrien, she could target the baker girl who didn’t belong here no matter who she was with. You could put her in a fancy dress and do her up like a China Doll, but trash didn’t belong in high society.

Lila belonged here, not her. 

Never her.

She stepped out of the stall and faced one of the mirrors, carefully pinning her hair up in a messy up-do she had gotten a styler on one of her photo sessions to show her how to do. It took only a few pins and no hair product. Perfect for someone who was sneaking into a gala and had to travel extremely light.

She cast her mind to the task at hand as she secured her hair pins.

There had to be some way to ruin Dupain-Cheng’s enjoyment of this evening.

Ruining her dress? Cliché. It was like a trope out of a badly written Cinderella story. And she had to keep attention off herself in order to remain at the event as long as possible.

Locking her in the bathroom? Again, overdone. And Dupain-Cheng seemed to be unusually adept at unlocking doors to get herself out.

Going to one of the attendants and claiming Dupain-Cheng was crashing the event? No, that would open Lila up to being questioned about her presence here as well.

There had to be something she could claim that was subtle enough, but would snowball quickly.

Something she could plant among the upper crust gathered.

There was the gold-digger claim.

Lila had used that against so many others in Italy before coming to Paris. It had caused so much delicious chaos to those she accused.

And it worked so well against couples who belonged to two so vastly different social statuses.

This would definitely work out there. The invited masses dealt with that sort of thing every day in their own lives.

She just had to twist Dupain-Cheng’s action this evening to fit the narrative she was going to spin.

She smiled at her reflection.

Perfect!

* * *

“Wow, did you see the new set of pictures Lila’s been posting to her Instagram?” Nino questioned Alya while flipping through the images on the app.

“Yeah, I have them on my computer too. I’m trying to identify some of these folks to send these to them.”

He lowered his phone to watch her work on her computer, getting up from the foot of her bed to lean over her shoulder. Nino wasn’t even going to ask if this was legal or where Alya got a facial recognition program that was currently running through every visible face in each photo. Possibly she had asked Max to provide something, or create something. It seemed to do a dive through the internet, comparing each face to articles found online.

Once found, the program either spit out an associated email address, Instagram account, or some method of contact for the individual.

Again, Nino did not want to know if this was legal or not.

“Come Monday, there’s going to be a lot of press on her doorstep, and not for the reasons Lila wants,” Alya stated with some satisfaction. “Is it too much to hope maybe her Mother will get contacted by the press too?”

“You want to get her mixed up in this?”

“Well… if she’s complicit, she deserves everything Lila gets. But if she really didn’t know, then she has a right to know in no uncertain terms. I mean, I don’t want her to lose her job over this, but we’re just shining a very bright spotlight on everything Lila’s been doing.”

“Gotta feel sorry for the lady,” Nino sighed, taking the chair next to his girlfriend. “If she didn’t know, this will be a rude awakening. Like, what did Lila tell her to get away with everything she said and did?”

“I have to hope it’s because she wants to believe the best in Lila as her Daughter.” Alya paused before turning her chair fully to face Nino. “But what does that say about us?”

“Still questioning that?”

“Aren’t you?” She bunched her hands into tight fists on her knees. “We… _I_ was so willing to take her at her word, to believe her over my best friend. I know Mari says she forgives me, but I’m not so sure I can forgive myself for being so… so…”

“Babe, chill,” he urged, taking her hands. “I had some time to think about all this, and it’s exactly like Mari and Adrien told us: Lila knows what to tell people to make them believe her and doubt others.” He gave her hands a squeeze and pulled her chair towards himself slightly. “This is what she does. When you question what she says, she turns it around to make you and everyone within earshot believe you’re attacking her. It’s part of the things I’ve noticed about her. She loves being the center of attention, either when she’s glorifying herself or making herself the victim. I saw how each time anyone showed any kind of interest in something, she would find a way to tie it to herself. And if no one said anything right away for her to use, she would ask just the right _innocent_ questions to make the people around her open up. I also saw how Rose was her favorite target to get information about the class.”

Alya clicked her tongue. “Poor trusting Rose. When she finds out she was Lila’s info source, this will break her.”

“Well, at least we don’t have to worry about her getting akumatized.”

“Noticed that too?”

“That Hawk Butt has been unusually quiet? Had to be some silver lining to everything that happened lately. I kind of think Mari and Adrien found out something on Hawk Moth during that one week and they’re using it to blackmail him somehow.”

Alya chuckled. “Oh, that would be awesome! But it would have to be something really huge to clip that monster’s wings.”

“If it was even our cream puffs. I’d like to think it was them, but it’s probably something Ladybug and Chat Noir found out while saving Adrien and Mari.”

“Maybe Ladybug and Chat Noir found out who Hawk Moth really is. Maybe they got his Miraculous off of him during the rescue and that’s why he isn’t doing anything anymore. There so much there to figure out.”

“And knowing you, you’ll chase down either one of the heroes to get your answers the next time you see them.”

“That’s just it, find them these days is hard. Ever since Ladybug brought Adrien back, sightings of the dynamic duo have been few and far between. Even Sabrina’s Dad commented that his officers haven’t seen them in a while. It used to be they’d patrol on a pretty regular schedule and help out if there were criminals to stop, but now…”

Nino leaned back in his chair in thought. “Maybe they’re enjoying their downtime now. They look like kids, like us, so maybe they’re just catching up on just being kids now. I mean, it can’t be easy on them, having to save Paris all the time from a total madman like Hawk Butt.”

Alya sighed. “True. I guess… I guess I’m a little scared of the day it’s all done, and we no longer have superheroes in the city. What do I do then?”

“What did you do before?”

She shrugged. “Babysat the twins, read comic books, hung out with my friends…”

“Doesn’t sound all that bad to go back to.”

“Yeah, but I think I’ll miss the excitement.”

“You’re an adrenaline junkie.”

“I am not! Am I?”

“Sorry to say, you are, Babe. And don’t you think the heroes are allowed to go back to whatever lives they had before?”

She sighed. “Yeah…”

“And didn’t you say you wanted to be a journalist someday?”

“Yes.”

“So, are you going to hang your future on a couple of superheroes and be known as the one-trick pony of the journalism world? Or are you going to be a journalist?”

She squared her shoulders. 

Though she would never admit that Nino was right, it just wasn’t in her to concede defeat, she had to admit that he was spot on about her focus of late.

Everything she posted on her site was solely about Ladybug and Chat Noir, and not about the victims and the passions of these that had caused them to be akumatized.

She knew those stories but never posted them.

The artist who had been jilted by an art gallery associate.

The young ballerina who had gotten bested by a rival.

The teen who wanted to start a possible annual charity event only to have the city shut them down.

The gardener who repeatedly saw their hard work be trampled.

And so many more.

These were also stories that needed to be told as they, too, were part of the Ladyblog. They were part of the story of Paris fighting a terrorist. The were the reason why Ladybug and Chat Noir fought day in and day out, without rest.

“I’m going to be a journalist,” she confirmed. “While I’m still going to run the Ladyblog as a site for all things Ladybug and Chat Noir, I need to add in what I’ve been unintentionally omitting all this time.”

“Which is?”

“There are three sides to this story: the Heroes; Hawk Moth; and, Parisians. I need to write about Parisians, the victims. I need a human aspect.”

Nino smiled proudly. “There’s my girl.”

“Once Lila is out of the way, the blog will go through a little bit of a facelift. You’ll help?”

“Of course!”

“Awesome!” 

Her computer suddenly pinged from the messenger app opened in the background. She quickly maximized the window and grinned at what she read.

“Chloé just texted.”

“What’s up?”

She favored him with a truly evil grin. “Second salvo.”

* * *

Penny Rolling both enjoyed and loathed these sorts of parties.

She enjoyed them for the networking they provided and the lack of careful minute-to-minute planning she had to do to keep Jagged Stone in line. There was usually more than one fashion house looking to provide outfits and costume to her employer for his concerts and outings.

Always a good thing if they approached her and not her having to seek them out.

And the lack of having to keep Jagged in line was almost relaxing. True, she did watch out to make sure he didn’t make a complete ass of himself, but he learned to govern himself quite well after being told so many times.

But she loathed these events for the petty rivalries she was exposed to and the social lies to bolster one or destroy another.

It was like being in high school all over again.

Case in point, some girl was currently boasting about herself, telling those surrounding her and within earshot about her woes and glories.

This girl spoke about how she had been a prima model for Agreste Design, only to be tossed aside on the word of a gold-digger who had managed to make Adrien Agreste swoon for her.

How this interloper had worked tirelessly to smear this girl’s name all through the company and the subsidiaries to keep her from being gainfully employed.

How it had only been through the good graces of her current employer that she was even permitted to attend this gala, that the company had refused to attend unless their new prima model could attend as well.

Penny had a problem with that tale.

She knew the company this girl spoke of was not allowed to come to this gala due to pending legal issues against them from both Paris and Jagged Stone. Some of their fashion and cosmetic products had caused some pretty serious allergic reactions in the rocker, forcing him to have cancelled a three-day set of concerts just last year. The city had sided with Jagged and had facilitated actioning that company to recoup not only what the rocker had lost, but what the city had lost as well.

Quietly, Penny moved closer to the small group to listen to the tales being spun.

Silently she noted that the dress the girl tried to claim as her original design was actually a model from a few years back out of Nordstrom’s evening wear line. From the looks she saw on the faces of those in the informal group, they knew this too.

Which put into question everything this girl was telling them.

“I feel so blessed to be able to work in the field of fashion,” the girl gushed. “I’ve been immersed into it since I was a baby, my parents often hosting dear Signor Dolce and Signor Gabbana, and Signora Versace when we still lived in Italy. They were always so impressed by the designs I drew, and they loved the look I grew into.”

Penny arched a skeptic eyebrow, unseen.

“And I got to meet Clara Nightingale and Jagged Stone during my all too brief tenure with Agreste Design, all before the terrible smear campaign against me. Clara saw my designs and asked me to create a whole wardrobe for her. In fact, her dress tonight is one of mine!”

Penny frowned slightly. That was not what she had heard out of the Nightingale camp.

“And I’ve been contracted by Jagged Stone to design his new set of costumes for his upcoming world tour next year.”

The frown deepened. That was definitely news to Penny.

“It’s so unfair that I was forced to come through a side door so Monsieur Agreste wouldn’t know I’m here. I heard he was ready to pull my dearest Adrien from this event if he even so much as saw my face on the news tonight.”

Penny cocked her head, catching on something. “ _Your_ dearest Adrien?”

The girl smiled brightly at the newcomer in her entourage. “Of course! He and I are dating, don’t you know?”

The Rolling woman looked over to where Adrien Agreste was currently cuddling a young lady, seemingly oblivious of the world around them.

“Really?” Penny probed, indicating the pair casually.

The girl laughed somewhat nervously with a small dismissive wave. “Oh, that? That’s all for show. It’s something Monsieur Agreste is insisting on for appearances. You see, that’s the girl who started the simply horrible lies about me to Monsieur Agreste and his company, saying I had no talent of my own and that I was only after Adrien for the fame he brings. But we all know that someone who makes such claims is usually projecting.”

“Projecting?” someone else continued to question, Penny recognizing Nightingale’s manager.

She gave him a concurring nod, both silently understanding what was going on. He leaned to the man standing next to him, whispering instructions that sent this one off through the crowd with calm urgency.

“Of course. I go to school with that girl, she’s such a klutz with no real aspirations of her own, and she just lies with every breath. She claims to be a designer to several important people, and she claims to be a baker because her parents own a quaint little bakery, but all her classmates know the truth. Often, if I hadn’t stepped in to fix things, she would have injured someone or made people sick from her horrendous cooking attempts.”

“Those are some serious accusations,” a petite woman stated, her cautioning tone lost on the girl in their midst.

“Oh, it’s much worse than that!” the girl lamented dramatically. “When she heard my sweet Adrien was going to be in her class, she made it a point to seduce him any way she could. And when she found out he was actually my boyfriend, she started her smear campaign. The only reason she wants to be linked to Adrien is his last name, and the fame and money he has. She wants to leech that from him to build herself up, to make a name for herself when she has none.”

“My word!” a mature patron of the arts exclaimed, almost buying into these tales, but still skeptical. “What is the name of this young woman?”

“Her family name is Dupain-Cheng.”

Penny’s smirk went unnoticed. “You don’t mean Marinette Dupain-Cheng, do you?”

The flash of fear in the girl’s eyes was unmistakable, igniting an internal cackle of victory in Penny.

“O-oh, you know her?”

There was no mistaking the tremor in the girl’s voice.

“Marinette has been designing costumes for Jagged Stone for the last few months now, ever since she designed an amazing pair of Eiffel Tower sunglasses for him and after designing the cover to his last album.”

“And how would you know that?” the girl demanded.

Penny stuck out her hand in greeting. “Penny Rolling, Jagged Stone’s manager.”

“O-oh…”

“And Clara found her so cute when she auditioned for her music video two months ago that she insisted on exchanging Zoom coordinates to keep in touch,” Nightingale’s managed added. “Took me forever to track her down.”

“She- she auditioned… for a video?”

“All the girls from her class apparently. Why weren’t you there?”

“I… I was probably on a trip to Achu to speak to Prince Ali about one of my many environmental initiatives,” she attempted to dismiss, hoping this would change the subject.

It didn’t.

“Well, Clara was over the moon when she found out the young lady was also a designer and regularly buys out most of her Etsy stock. The dress she’s wearing, that you’re claiming to have created? It’s a Dupain-Cheng original, commissioned earlier this month. I swear, the fact that she can just churn out all these amazing designs in so short a timeframe is amazing.”

“Something Jagged always found admirable in her,” Penny added. “He calls her his Niece, you know.”

The color in the girl’s cheeks seemed to be draining. “He… he does?”

“He just adores her to bits!”

Nightingale’s manager smiled broadly. “We should arrange for Mister Stone and Clara to get together for a collaboration and have Marinette do the designs for the video.”

Penny returned the smile, actually liking this suggestion.

“Excuse me, sorry to interrupt,” one of the event attendants announced from the edge of the small group. “But some grievous information was brought to out attention.” He turned his full attention on the teen. “Mademoiselle, could you please show me your invitation?”

The girl blinked and Penny swore she could see a bead of sweat forming near her hairline. “My… One of the door attendants took it and never gave it back. But you can check the list, I’m part of the _L’occitane_ group in attendance.”

Penny’s smile morphed into an evil smirk.

_Gotcha!_

The attendant shook his head. “I’m sorry, Mademoiselle, but _L’occitane_ was strictly forbidden from attending tonight’s function due to pending litigations with some of the guests. That being the case, if you are part of this group, you do not have an invitation and are not permitted to be here. I’m afraid you will have to leave. Unless you can give me you name, and we can find it on our lists?”

“My… my name…”

“Her name is Lila Rossi,” a voice sneered from the other side of the group. “And don’t bother looking for it, I can guarantee it won’t be there.”

All eyes turned to find Chloé Bourgeois standing there, looking very smug and victorious, her phone held casually aloft in one hand.

The Lila girl was starting to look flustered.

“Chloé… I…”

“Save it, Rossi, there is nothing that you can say that can get you out of your own mess,” Bourgeois snapped, tilting her phone to take a candid picture. “And here we have Lila Rossi, who snuck into the event uninvited, about to be thrown out of the Winter Gala with the trash where she belongs,” she voiced as she typed on her phone, pressing a final button with a flourish. Then, to the waiting attendant, “You may remove her and, please, if she resist, you don’t have to be gentle.”

“Mademoiselle, we would rather you not make a scene,” the attendant warned as his gloved hand closed over Lila’s bicep.

She freed her arm with a sharp tug and, with head held high, she marched towards the front entrance to the _Palais d’Iena_. If she was being forced to leave, she would make it worth her while by spinning it in her favour to the media still outside. A doorman opened the door to allow her to exit, the glass and metal pane closing behind her with a noticeable locking click.

Lila looked around quickly, noting the number of reporters still milling about, and then began to sob loudly, hiding her face in her hands.

As predicted, some of the reporters moved towards her, both concerned and curious.

“How could they do this to me!” she wailed dramatically. “I didn’t do anything wrong!” and she let herself drop into a crouch, bending in on herself to better portray the dejection and dismay she was faking.

“Are you alright, Mademoiselle?” one of the journalists asked carefully as she approached.

“They threw me out!” Lila wailed in her arms, forcing tears into her eyes for when she would have to look up. “I had an invitation to be here, but they threw me out!”

“I’m sure it was just a misunderstanding…” another tried to placate.

Knowing her mascara was trailing just perfectly down her cheeks from her forced tears, Lila’s head snapped up to look at these reporters dejectedly. She crowed internally at the flash of sympathy and discomfort in their eyes at seeing her crying.

_Hook, meet line._

“No! I know it wasn’t just a misunderstanding!” she moaned loudly for all to hear. Afterall, the more reporters heard her tale, the better her chances were that her story would be picked up to publish or televise. “It was all intentional! I heard them laughing at me! It’s all Gabriel Agreste’s fault! Him and that little hussy he’s forcing on my sweet Adrien!”

Before she dropped her face into her hands again to cry loudly, Lila caught sight of an all to familiar expression on the faces of the gathered reporters.

An expression she had seen so often before and had exploited in her favor.

The look of a reporter seeing a story.

The look of a reporter seeing a story that would generate attention, and therefore revenue.

_And now the sinker_.

“Her entire relationship with my dearest Adrien is a sham! And she’s using it for her advantage! Everything she ever told anyone is a complete lie!”

“Please, Mademoiselle…” one reporter began, crouching near her. “There’s a _café_ across the way. You can have a _chocolat_ to help calm yourself and you can tell us the whole story, yes?”

She smiled behind her hands before letting the mask of misery fall over her face. “Oh… okay,” she sniffed, the perfect picture of a disconsolate soul.

But inside she was celebrating.

She would spin such a tale that it would destroy both Agreste Design and Dupain-Cheng in one night.

She would get her fame back after this.

Lila had warned Dupain-Cheng before: Getting in her way was a mistake they would learn to regret.

* * *

“Welcome back,” Nathalie greeted from the base of the grand stairway as Adrien and Marinette entered the manor, flanked by the ever-present Agreste bodyguard.

“You didn’t have to stay up to wait for us, Nathalie,” Adrien opted in greeting, the hand to Marinette’s lower back gently steering her away from the assistant.

Ever since his akumatization, the woman had felt… off to him. There was a memory of some sort, something just on the edge of being remembered, but he couldn’t quite grasp it.

It left him feeling a little cold about her now.

He knew she was hiding something, but he didn’t know what it was.

And the Chat in him, both Noir and Blanc, didn’t like that one bit.

“Your Father asked that I relay instructions for the upcoming week,” Nathalie responded, looking down at her tablet.

Adrien felt himself frown. “Of course he does.”

The woman decided to ignore his tone. “He wished for you to know that he will be leaving in the morning for a business engagement. He expects this shouldn’t take longer than three weeks at most. During his time away, your usual after school activities shall continue, but your modelling obligations have been postponed.”

“Anything I should know about?”

“Nothing of importance at this date, but I’ll be sure to inform you should that change. Also, your Father brought over an overnight bag for you, Miss Marinette.”

Marinette blinked, surprised her Father had gone along with the idea. Chloé had spoken to them before they had all left earlier that evening, explaining how it was just better for everyone if Marinette stayed at the Agreste Manor after the event. In her experience, seeing as how late everything went and knowing that Marinette definitely didn’t want to wake her parents whenever she got home, this was the most acceptable of solutions for the end of the night.

She had been sure her Father would have made some excuse to her Mother about not letting her sleep over at a boy’s place.

Seeing as he had been the one to deliver her overnight bag, her Mother had probably used some threat or explained how over-protective he was being, and then forced him to deliver the bag in punishment.

Her Mom was incredible.

“I have left it in Adrien’s room. Breakfast will be served late, at ten, to allow you both to sleep in after tonight’s festivities.”

And then she left for her office down the hall.

Marinette stared after her for a moment. “There are times when I almost have her pegged as an android, and then she pulls something almost human like this.”

“Don’t be fooled,” he smiled. “She is an android.”

She laughed softly, allowing him to lead her up the stairs towards his room.

No sooner had they walked in and the door was securely shut did the two hidden kwami fly out into view, spinning together with a laugh.

Tikki sighed happily. “That was such an amazing night! It almost reminded me of the nights in Versailles.”

“The dancing…” Plagg agreed. “The food… the… the… the food!”

“Don’t think we didn’t notice how many times those very confused servers had to refill the cheese table,” Marinette accused.

“I couldn’t help myself!” the kwami protested. “There was just so much cheese… And don’t tell me Tikki wasn’t the same at the desserts table.”

“I didn’t gorge myself!” Tikki countered indignantly. “I sampled a little of everything and no one noticed the pieces I took were missing.”

“Yeah, yeah, we get it,” Plagg dismissed. “Teacher’s pet,” he grumbled as he floated up to the balcony.

Tikki merely giggled. “Don’t worry about him, he’s just grumpy because he’s full and tired.” And with a placating smile, she flew up to join her counterpart.

“That actually wasn’t much different than he usually is,” Adrien replied to no one.

He offered Marinette the use of his bathroom to clean up and change for the night, taking a seat at his computer to idly peruse media sites about the Winter Gala. Very few of the big publications had published anything yet, no doubt waiting until morning to be able to verify certain details with the communications people for those in attendance.

Trash magazines seemed to have no such qualms.

And not surprisingly, all of them seemed to have interviewed the same person for their baseless articles: one Lila Rossi.

The articles so far were just a rehash of everything she had tried to spread throughout the school, and to anyone else who was close enough to hear, about what Marinette has supposedly done to ruin Lila’s reputation and rising career.

All of it was actually Lila projecting her own actions as if they had been Marinette’s.

All of it also belonged right where it was published: in the trash.

It was so reminiscent of one of those bad Latin American soap operas, so far fetched and implausible. Adrien wondered if these paparazzi had even bothered to reread their own articles after posting them to see just how ridiculous it all was.

There was the claim that Gabriel Agreste simply adored Lila’s look in his fashion campaigns. But anyone could clearly see that if the man genuinely liked her as a model, there would have been more than just that one spread all those months ago. True, she did model with Adrien, but she was kept on set for only an hour before she was released, and a new set of photos were taken. None of her shots ever made it anywhere.

There was the claim that Lila and Adrien were romantically linked.

Adrien almost threw up at that claim.

There was absolutely no proof of that particular claim in the media save for Lila’s own Instagram account. Adrien had long ago purged photos she had forced him to post to his own account. Real publications and magazines didn’t even have any photos of the supposed dates they had gone on.

What they did have were the countless candid shots of Adrien walking through the city, hand-in-hand and often cuddling, with Marinette.

That in itself made it clear that he was not dating Lila.

But she seemed to have anticipated that possible thought from readers by claiming that this was a ploy orchestrated by both Gabriel and Marinette, the former to boost sales using an innocent looking girl, the latter using the opportunity to launch her lackluster attempts in fashion.

Yes, because if he loathed someone, Adrien would be able to hide it in all those candid shots where he had no idea where the cameras were hiding.

What was surprising to see was the pushback from those celebrities and their camps to the comments being posted.

Jagged Stone and Clara Nightingale coming to Marinette’s defence was understandable, they practically adored and often fought over the girl and who would get her fashion services first. 

Adrien had recognized the dress Clara had worn tonight, having seen the sketches in Marinette’s books almost a month ago. The seamstresses in the Nightingale camp had done an amazing job bringing it to life. Though Marinette had been incredibly detailed in her notes and instructions on the design.

And it was no secret how Jagged adored Marinette, having publicly called her his honorary niece on syndicated television.

Then there was Audrey Bourgeois, who had come just short of threatening legal action against these tabloids for slandering, not only the Agreste name, but _a rising star in the fashion world_ , as she had praised.

Part of him wondered if Chloé had a hand in that.

Chances were that the Agreste Legal Department would be contacting these magazines and demand a retraction or risk litigation for libel and slander. And this shortly before or after they began legal proceedings against Lila for breaking the protection order.

No more warnings.

Adrien chuckled softly.

He had been in the industry too long to know the lingo so well.

“What are you smiling at?” Marinette questioned as she stepped out of the bathroom, damp hair hanging loose about her shoulders.

He had seen her wear this set of nightwear before, the day she had helped him escape his fans all so he could see a showing of his Mother’s movie in a small theatre. Then, just like now, Marinette looked impossibly cute in her pyjamas.

“I’m watching one of many stages being set tox bring down at least one of our problems,” he replied, casually leaning back in his chair.

Intrigued, she came to stand behind him, hands absently playing in his hair as she read the articles scattered on his screens. Adrien felt himself melt from her tender ministrations, allowing his head to lean back against her, a pleased purr rumbling from his throat. Marinette spared him an amused smile before returning her eyes to the screens.

Then she began to chuckle.

And then laugh.

Adrien looked back at her, blinking owlishly.

She struck a dramatically anguished pose, a hand to her heart and the back of the other to her brow.

“It’s so horrible! I’ve completely ruined Lila’s life without even trying!” she mock wailed.

He began to chortle. “How absolutely evil of you, My Princess,” he jokingly agreed.

“But now I’ve been labelled a home-wrecker because of it!” She let herself fall across his lap, letting herself be draped like some tragic maiden from an old fifties movie. “However shall I reclaim my good name, that I am not some gold-digging hussy out to just use your name and then throw you away?”

He grinned, his Chat Noir side emerging. “We could get married?”

She blinked and raised her head to look at him. His playful expression made her smirk, her brows knitting a bit.

“As tempting as that is, Kitty, she’d find a way to twist it into her narrative even more.”

“Tempting?” he prodded, a hopeful lilt to his voice.

She laughed gently, feeling the hot flush of a fierce blush racing over her face and down her neck. “Ask me again after _lycée_.”

“You better believe I will,” he promised, reluctantly letting her stand again.

She came to stand behind his chair again, arms loose around his shoulders with her chin resting on the crown of his head.

“Back to this problem though,” she gestured to the screen with a vague wave of her hand.

“These are tabloids. Legal has instructions that anything published about my family needs to go through our comms people first. If not, they can begin legal proceedings against them. This will be dead by noon tomorrow.”

“And Lila?”

“What that we could kill her too by tomorrow,” he muttered.

“Adrien!”

“Voicing my frustration, I don’t mean anything… mostly.” Marinette tapped his chest in warning. “I’m kidding!” he laughed.

“No, he’s not!” Plagg called down from the balcony just above them. “My offer still stands, you know!”

“Plagg!” Marinette looked up to find green feline eyes peering down in lazy interest.

“Don’t tell me you haven’t entertained the idea, Spots, I’ve been around too long to know that’s not true.”

She blinked. “That… that’s not the point…”

“I know, illegalities of murder and all that. Fine, but my offer is still on the table in case you change your mind,” and his bulbous head disappeared from sight.

“I say let Alya and Chloé do their thing for now. Alya seems to be handling the social media side pretty well so far,” Adrien stated, and he clicked open a new set of tabs to show the flurry of posts being made to Instagram and Twitter, among others. “And Chloé has been posting all those millions of pictures she insisted on taking tonight of us with everyone, tagging all of them in the shots. Lila can’t possibly counter any of those without causing more damage to what little is left of her credibility.”

Marinette sighed softly. “True…”

He took one of her hands and kissed her palm. “You’re tired, Marinette.” Adrien turned his chair to face her, holding both her hands in his. “You’re starting to spiral into doom and gloom when so far there isn’t any.”

She pouted cutely. “I hate that you know me this well.”

Standing with a low chuckle, “Go to bed. I’ll be back out in a few and I’ll join you,” and he kissed her forehead before disappearing into the bathroom.

Marinette stood there a few moments more, her cheeks bright red as her sleep dazed mind fixated on some of his words.

_Go to bed…_

_… I’ll join you._

Had she been in her right mind, and in her own bedroom, she probably would have squealed loudly at the prospect.

Sure, they had lounged together before at school, in the park, in his room, in her room.

But to have actually slept in the same bed?

A small squeak escaped her lips.

Part of her was still trying to reconcile that she was now going out with Adrien, that she was officially and publicly his girlfriend. It had been weeks, but it still made her feel giddy about it all.

Marinette shook her head to clear the girlish excitement that threatened to bubble. A deep breath and a resolute tapping of her cheeks before exhaling brought her back to reality.

Yes, he was her boyfriend.

Yes, he was her partner.

Yes, she was going to sleep over in his room.

Yes, they would be sharing his bed.

No, this did not mean they were married and have three children and live in a big house with a white picket fence and eventually adopt a hamster they would name--!

“Stop it!” she hissed to herself.

With a stomp, she squared her shoulders and marched to the bed. Turning down the blankets she allowed herself a moment to feel the softness of the sheets under her fingers. Knowing Gabriel Agreste’s propensity for buying the best of the best, these had to be Egyptian cotton, possibly an impossibly high and exclusive thread count ordered specifically by the man.

There was no doubt she would sleep well in these sheets…

… if she could forget their possible price.

Again, she shook her head free of the thought and slipped under the covers. Everything felt first cold against her bare feet, arms, and shoulders, almost forcing her into a tight ball to warm up. But soon enough her body heat spread through the sheets, warming her and them to the point where she could uncurl and relax. A satisfied sigh escaped her lips, eyes closing.

Moments later she heard the bathroom door open. She was aware of the room going darker, even from behind closed eyes. No doubt Adrien had shut off the monitors of his computer. She started counting the seconds in her head, noting how it seemed to take him much longer that it should have to cross over to the bed and climb in.

Was he hesitating?

Were his nerves fraying as much as hers that she was desperately trying to keep together?

The blankets shifted and the mattress dipped under his weight.

And silence, save for the sound of their breathing.

His warm hand slipped into hers, lightly threading their fingers together. She curled her hand in response. Opening her eyes, she found him watching their intertwined hands as if fascinated, meeting her gaze when he felt her watching him.

A tiny smile touched her lips, one her returned.

“Hi,” Marinette whispered.

“Hi,” he returned easily.

A moment of silence passed between them, both wanting to speak, both not knowing what to say.

“Nervous,” they finally both stated in unison.

With a surprised blink, the pair laughed softly at their own awkwardness.

Adrien felt a hot flush color his cheeks when he saw Marinette bite her bottom lip through a shy smile. Releasing his hand, she scooted herself forward to be closer to him, tucking her head under his chin as her arms wound around him. He froze, not sure what to do in that moment, until his brain seemed to reboot and command his arms to encircle her tiny frame.

It always amazed him how it always felt he had gone a lifetime without her holding him when they shared just a simple hug.

Nino had jokingly accused him of being touch-starved.

Maybe he was.

Tightening his hold just a bit, Adrien pressed his nose into her hair, comforted by the feel of her heartbeat against his chest.

And he began to purr.

Drowsy with sleep, Marinette barely heard the purring, humming softly in appreciation. She nuzzled the edge of his pyjama shirt’s collar, allowing herself a deep breath of the scent that was purely Adrien. It brought a smile to her lips, a dream invading her mind’s eye.

Would they always stay together and share more nights just like this?

It was a peace almost beyond words.

“Goodnight, my Prince,” she whispered, almost asleep.

Adrien smiled through his drowsy stupor. “Goodnight, my Princess.”

He could let the Universe do its worst. He had his partner, best friend, and love of his life with him.

Nothing else mattered.


End file.
